Expelled From Glory
by Gavedin
Summary: 1st in the 'ninja Naruto gets sent to school' series. One boy. Pulled towards a new world. His sword is also his shield, and with it he shall shine brightly in the darkness. New possibilities are brought to life. This is that story.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I almost did own Naruto and Bleach at one point…but that's what I get for thinking a pair of 2's was a 'sure hand'.

Chapter 1:

He was supposed to be training. Isn't that what a "training trip" was supposed to involve? Sure, the first year had him refining the rasengan into different forms of attack, such as the odama rasengan, and Jiraiya helped tutor him with taijutsu seeing as his was shit, plain and simple.

BUT THAT WAS IT SO FAR!

Training trips are supposed to be for, you know, training! Not just traveling around and around and around! Was the stupid pervert trying to make him part of his spy network because that wasn't gonna fly at all. Another year was pretty much spent walking far to the northeast while being taught life skills. But that didn't mean that Uzumaki Naruto didn't practice with his chakra. Jiraiya had him do insane chakra control exercises such as running along a raging river while dodging rocks, sticks, and other objects thrown at him while continuously trying to keep lightweight objects balanced on his fingertips.

Okay…he would concede that those actually were actually kind of challenging.

It was now his second year on the road and things hadn't changed that much. While working more on his taijutsu style, which was actually the one Jiraiya used and was taught to him by the toad summons, the blonde shinobi from Konohagakure learned what his chakra affinity was: wind. That meant he could use his energy to cut through objects without much strength, as well as use any type of wind release attack with greater ease than, oh say, a lightning release technique. But that was it. No new techniques were taught and it pissed him off.

Now what truly confused the now 15 year old jinchuriki was the fact that instead of starting the journey back to Konoha as was planned for the third year, the perverted hermit still had them moving steadily away from their home village and even going as far as having them get on a boat and head out to open waters. What a boring month that was. Tsunade was going to kill him, too. And now according to the toad sage, apparently they were now on some outlying island called 'Japan' and were going to meet up with an old friend of Jiraiya's.

That was the reason why the two were now on something called a 'bullet train' heading towards some place in this 'Japan'. It was like that chakra train he saw back in the Land of Snow/Spring but somehow the whole metal contraption ran off of electricity. He had seen large, enclosed carts made out of metal that moved of their own free will, and even big iron birds that flew through the air. There were small radio-like things that were rectangular in shape and fit in a person's hand, and a teenager was speaking loudly into it and he heard it be labeled as a 'cell'.

How in the hell was that tiny thing a prison? He guessed it was like some fancy sealing fuinjutsu.

Whatever…

So anyways here he was. Riding on a train and glaring at his current mentor. The smug bastard just wouldn't stop grinning and it was grating at his nerves. Logically he did what he did best and expressed himself loudly. "I hate you."

"You're just acting like a brat."

"You said you were going to train me."

"I have been."

"Barely! Nothing but taijutsu and chakra control! Wow, I can make a bigger rasengan! Whoopie." he replied flatly, leveling yet another glare at the toad sage. A hand clapped him on the head, mushing it down and causing the teen to growl.

"You idiot! I've been correcting the physical neglect you've suffered from over the years! Why else do you think I've been working you so much and forcing you to eat healthier? Ever notice that you've actually grown taller now and are more than just wiry skin and bones? You're welcome, by the way."

The younger blonde huffed, removing the hand from his golden locks as his blue eyes squinted up at the much taller, white-haired shinobi. "Well…when do I learn something new?"

Jiraiya merely chuckled. "When you can actually last against me in a fight, brat." The boy huffed again, crossing his arms over his chest and idly tugging at the sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt. "Naruto." The blonde refocusing on his teacher. "I'm not doing this to spite you. It's for your own good."

"Well this wouldn't be happening if I didn't have such shitty teachers before that taught me the wrong things or ignored me outright…" he grumbled in turn. "I only learned one thing from Kakashi-sensei, even if he is a great ninja. And don't even get me started on the teachers at school besides Iruka-sensei. And where the hell are we going, anyways? I've never heard of a Japan before, and I'm pretty sure I would've remembered Iruka-sensei mention it at some point…maybe. Where exactly is that in the Elemental Nations? The boat ride here was killer."

This time Jiraiya fidgeted a bit in his seat, straightening out the creases in his current pair of dress slacks. "It…isn't. Japan is actually the closest land mass to our hidden continent and it just so happens to be where my contact lives so…here we are. There's a lot more land on the planet than just the Elemental Nations, kiddo. A _lot _more. Less than one percent of the ninja population knows about the outside world, and vice versa for those outside knowing about the shinobi lands."

Naruto was silent, mouth agape as he digested the new information floating around in his skull. Just how frickin' big was the planet? The sannin felt a little unnerved at Naruto's unblinking stare, feeling he should say something to break the tension.

"…ta-da?"

"WHAT!"

"Calm down!" Jiraiya grabbed his student by the back of his jeans and roughly pulled him back into his seat after he had jumped up. "Be quieter, idiot! Why else do you think we're in these civilian clothes?"

Blue jeans and a long-sleeved crimson shirt was what Naruto wore. Jiraiya had forced him out of his sandals and into a white pair of what he called sneakers. Also, to his utter horror, he forbade the teenager from wearing his beloved headband or any orange-colored clothing. Luckily he was still allowed to wear his green-jewel necklace from Tsunade so it wasn't a total loss. A brown jacket was draped over his shoulders to allow easy access for slipping his arms inside. It was a bit odd being out of his comfort zone, AKA his jumpsuit. it just wasn't right.

Jiraiya was clad in a grey three-piece business suit and vest, using sealing scrolls to hide away all of their extraneous items inside of a pair of suitcases. A simple genjutsu hid his more tell-tale features, reducing his body-length ponytail down to a manageable shoulder-blade length and the markings under his eyes were now missing. Compared to Naruto, he seemed more at ease in the new choice of clothes.

"Why do I have to go to a school anyways? Do you even know how stupid that sounds? I'm supposed to be getting stronger so I can beat the bad guys, not trying to get all smart like Sakura-chan!"

"And how many times do I have to tell you? This is all for your own good, so stop acting like a spoiled little kid already!" The pout on Naruto's face was of epic proportions but Jiraiya didn't budge an inch. Thankfully the train began to lose momentum, gradually coming to a halt and giving them a reason to grab their things without having to speak to one another. Stepping off onto the platform that connected to a city called Karakura Town, the young jinchuriki silently followed after his master as the two walked down side streets.

The sound of footsteps against concrete continued on for ten minutes before Naruto finally got fed up with their actions and shouted his annoyance. "Where the hell are we going?"

With a laugh, Jiraiya leaned up against the wall to steady himself. "Ah, man…see? You're patience has grown at least. We're already here. I've just been leading you around in circles for the hell of it!" Naruto howled, intent on disemboweling the stupid pervert only to stop upon noticing two small children watching their actions.

The male had blood-red hair that spiked up strangely, small constricted pupils like Kiba and his family had, a pair of blue shorts, a white short-sleeved shirt, and a pair of sandals. He held a straw broom tightly in his hands as he looked at them with a scowl marring his features. His counterpart was a female with long black hair in twintails with her bangs hanging down between her eyes like a bug's antenna. Upon her lean frame was a pair of worn wooden sandals, a white t-shirt that both fit her perfectly and yet still seemed to appear large on her petite frame, and a wide, pink skirt with white polka dots spaced along the cloth. She had a somber, uninterested demeanor.

Naruto frowned at the boy, who seemed to grow disgruntled and brandished his broom like a sword. "What the hell are you looking at?" he demanded haughtily.

"You, you pointy-eyed midget! Don't you have anything better to do than watch us?"

"M-midget? I'll kick your ass!" He recoiled at the midget crack but not the pointy-eyed part? What a strange kid.

"Jinta…" the girl squeaked out, reminding the blonde immediately of Hinata. "Tessai's gonna get mad if you fight a stranger and potential customer."

"Shut up, Ururu! This won't even take a minute!" Jinta rushed forward with a cry, arching his cleaning utensil like a bat as he made to connect the wood with Naruto's skull. Said blonde immediately reached for a kunai only to blanch when he remembered his pouch was packed away. His hands instinctively rose, ready to create a wave of clones only to feel a vice-like grip over his hands that kept him from forming his favorite seal.

The look Jiraiya gave him immediately caused the boy to metaphorically wither, making him realize he nearly used ninjutsu out in the open where anyone could see it happen. He remembered the sage telling him that the people here couldn't use chakra (madness, is what that was) or thought it wasn't an actual source of energy, and doing so would instantly cause others to question what he was.

Jinta smirked evilly, clearly thinking he was going to get the first hit when suddenly his feet left the earth. Whatever was holding him had lifted him cleanly into the air and caused his feet to kick helplessly against nothing. "What are you doing, Jinta?"

The redhead froze in fear, rotating by his shirt until his eyes were fearfully peering into a pair of opaque glasses. The man was tall. Way tall. A few good inches taller than Jiraiya, with a bushy black mustache/mutton chops combo and cornrows. The large muscular man was wearing indoor slippers, a t-shirt that strained against the man's physique, green pants, and a cooking apron. By holding Jinta to his eye level, the poor child was hovering a good six feet off the ground by the back of his shirt.

"I wasn't doing anything!" the boy quickly denied, earning a raised eyebrow for the trouble. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused the man to turn and look at the newcomers.

"Hey there, Tessai. It's been awhile."

"Oh! Jiraiya-san! We've been awaiting your arrival. I hope Jinta didn't do anything to rash in his greeting."

The man shook his head negatively. "No, no. Nothing too big for a rowdy kid his age. My apprentice, however…" Naruto ducked his head again. So he forgot about teh warning…sort of. But the redheaded dwarf over there started it!

"Oh! So this is young Uzumaki-san…interesting." To his immense surprise, the young ninja found himself picked up by the back of his _own_ collar and pulled up to the giant's eye level like it was no big thing. "He looks strong."

"Well, what can I say…" the other man chuckled to himself, buffing his nails against the fabric of his suit jacket and blowing on them proudly. "He is my student after all."

"And you're a perverted bastard that won't teach me anything cool."

"Don't ruin my moment, brat." Naruto merely stuck his tongue out childishly, still suspended freely in the air. The fabric of his shirt was really beginning to dig into his armpits, though. Wow that was uncomfortable.

"Uh, you can put me down, big guy."

"Oh yes. Of course. My apologies. Won't the two of you come inside?" Tessai ushered Ururu in through the convenience store door, Jinta still hanging from his closed hand. Jiraiya was next, walking past the blonde and leaving the luggage outside for him to carry.

"As if those paper scrolls are just _sooooo_ darn heavy for you…frickin' pervert…" Grabbing the two suitcases, his eyes caught sight of the store's sign. '_Urahara Shoten…weird name…_' Shrugging to himself he walked through the door. The chime of a bell signified his arrival and a rush of cool air splayed across his skin. Naruto figured with a name like 'Reverse Bookshop' then it would be filled to the brim with all kinds of wacky intricacies and antique books that would catch even _his_ attention.

It was a candy store.

He felt oddly disappointed.

Seeing another door at the back near an unmanned register he began his trek through the rows of sweets and snacks. Setting one of the cases down he eased the sliding door open and poked his head in timidly. "Hello?"

"In here, kid."

His palm wrapped around the smooth handle of the suitcase once again and moved into the apparent living room area. Taking off his shoes to be polite, the blonde found an un-henged Jiraiya sitting on a plush cushion in front of a small, round table situated in the middle of the room. Across from his teacher was another man lazing in his seat, one hand tapping on his knee as the other rested in the opening of his shirt.

The male wore a dark green shirt left partially open to reveal some of his chest, and pants of the same color that stopped at his shins. Over the shirt rested a black haori jacket with white diamonds spaced along the bottom edge. His eyes were grey yet playful, nearly shadowed completely by the white and green striped bucket hat covering his medium length, pale blonde hair which spiked out at the ends. The guy seemed rather pale…like he barely went out in the sun.

"Hello there, Uzumaki-san. Nice to finally meet you! I'm Urahara Kisuke, proud yet humble owner of this quaint little candy shop. Jiraiya here has told me a few things about you in his letters…school, eh? Well good luck with that. It's always fun to learn new things~." he laughed. His grin was innocent and disarming, and it instantly put the young shinobi on alert. He didn't feel anything wrong coming from the man but…he still felt odd.

The toad sage leaned back, cracking his neck as he looked over at Urahara. "Tsunade is going to give me one hell of a tongue lashing about not coming back at the requested time but I think a report every month will at least lower her urge to kill me to a more manageable maiming instead. Good thing the only way to keep in touch is our summons." Jiraiya closed his eyes with a sigh before turning and scratching at his sideburn. "I know this'll seem sudden as I forgot to ask before, but would we be allowed to stay here for the duration of our stay? I can pay rent, of course."

The eccentric shop keep looked away, covering the lower half of his face with a paper fan he pulled out from one of his overly large sleeves as he contemplated the offer. They'd have to be careful but he saw no obvious problems with the arrangement. "Well…I think that will be alright. Ryou is practically worthless as currency our here but it can always be melted down for the gold." The two men sealed the deal with a quick shake of their hands.

Naruto had seated himself on one of the open cushions during the conversation. Running a hand over the fabric, he noticed the plushiness was soft and rather comfortable. "So, uh…how'd you two meet anyways?"

Both men snorted as Tessai emerged through another door and placed three cups of tea in front of their respective recipients, the large man taking a seat behind the other male in the hat. "It was more of an accident if you think about it. Twenty years ago I was curious after hearing about this place from my spy network and crossed over, more or less winding up here in Japan." Jiraiya explained before a grunt escaped his lips. "People thought I was some kind of shitty street performer…"

"Well they weren't off in their guesses. You looked like a kabuki warrior out of history~!" Kisuke added rather cheerfully.

"_Anyways_, I wandered around for a bit trying to learn about the outside world when I ran into Mr. Helpful here."

"I witnessed a poor, lost soul and decided to lend a helping hand out of the goodness of my heart!" Student and master couldn't help it; they both rolled their eyes.

"So I stayed awhile, learning about how things tick out here. Though at one point I was careless in my actions and got caught summoning a toad and well, I explained what happened when he wouldn't buy my excuse. Damn crafty and stubborn, he is. Didn't help that the toad was speaking like a human, either. All in all, he took it all surprisingly well."

"You're a six foot tall man that wore clothing not of this era, who was amazed by something as widely known as an automobile but unfazed by something as simple as a microwave? Totally not suspicious at all. Besides, I'm also a bit of a small-scale researcher on the side and these _shinobi _had me quite curious."

"…right. Kisuke took it surprisingly well as I mentioned. By the time I decided to head on home he agreed to act as an informant for the outside world. Every couple months I'd send a summon out here. Once the toads have been summoned to a place, they can set a sort of 'chakra beacon' at the area so they can teleport themselves there without a summoner. I learned that the education system is much better here than the civilian schools back home through our interactions. From the day I explained you were to be my apprentice, I remembered that fact and planned on bringing you out here at some point."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, scratching at his chin in thought. Bit of a crazy story but they were ninja; crazy was normal. Plus he learned something new about his summons. "So are there any other ninja out here?" Both shrugged as Kisuke took a drink of his slightly cooler tea, fanning the steam away.

"Who knows? It's hard to say. Anyways, I believe we should move onto other topics for the time being. Since you'll be staying here it'll make things easier than having to lug everything over to your place."

"What stuff?" the blonde asked, generally confused.

Urahara grinned, tilting his head back to reveal his jovial grey eyes. "Stuff to help with your schoolin', of course~!" A snap of his fingers caused the two children from before to walk in through the door Tessai had walked through prior. Naruto had a guess that they had been waiting there this whole time if they happened to be that punctual. He also noticed that both Ururu and Jinta were carrying a large pile of textbooks that towered over their heads. They had to have weighed a ton because the impact of thick paper dropping on wooden table caused the whole round board to shudder under their combined weight.

Naruto had to rise up onto his knees just to look over, giving his new landlord a disbelieving glare. "You're joking. There's no way I can read all of these."

"Of course you can~! There's two weeks left of school before summer break, plus the rest of summer itself. Don't be such a wimp."

"Wimp? I'm a fighter, not a damn bookworm! I hated going to the academy and now you expect me to read this shi-buttload of books before sending me off to yet another school that will teach me nothing that has to do with my job? You're all crazy!" He checked himself from swearing now that there were kids in the room. Well, at least the 'heavier' curses.

"It's for your own good, kid."

Naruto's eye twitched.

The others merely watched with varying amounts of amusement. Clicking his tongue, Jiraiya spoke again. "Your dream is to be the Hokage. While not an actual requirement, it _does_ require a great deal of intelligence to effectively run a village. You've only been privy to the cushy aspect of wearing the Hokage hat. You think that it's all about sitting around in the chair, going to meetings, and signing papers until you gain carpal tunnel? Wrong. Even in times of peace you need to be able to make decisions that change people's lives."

Wetting his lips with his tongue, he continued. "Leadership always comes with a price. Namely, your actions can cost anything from ryou to land to a person's very life. Remember **that** if you ever want to make it to chunin! If you even want to be considered for a leadership position then you need to mature. Stop whining about every damn thing and just do it! You want me to teach you more? Then as your sensei I'm telling you that you need to both grow up and grow mentally!" He slapped the tabletop with his palm for emphasis, staring unblinkingly at his charge as his palms cracked against the wood.

The boy stared right back. A battle of wills waged between the two before the younger finally relented and looked away, finding the edge of the nearest book to be quite interesting. "…fine. Whatever. Just show me where I'm sleeping so I can get started already."

"T-this way, please." Ururu whispered, moving out through the side door. Grumbling to himself, Naruto created a clone and the two each grabbed one of the papery stacks. To his surprise, none of the occupants batted an eye at the multiplying act. With a grunt the two Uzumakis trudged after the young girl, both feeling the strain of their muscles from carrying the surprisingly heavy load. How freakishly strong were Jinta and Ururu to be able to casually carry these things?

The redhead watched him go with a scowly frown before turning to his boss. "What the hell's his problem?"

"Ah, sorry about that. He needs discipline once in awhile. Having been an orphan all his life there's never been one to show him proper manners. Some have tried but it's been far and between." said Jiraiya. Jinta just scoffed at the sentence, rolling his eyes.

"Wasn't that idiot ever adopted?"

A brief flicker of guilt crossed the sannin's face before returning to the impassive look he held before. "No. I can't explain either so please just let it lie. I'm just doing my best to fix the damage that's already there." He reached over and grabbed his godson's untouched drink, downing it in one gulp. Somehow his own had run empty through the entire conversation without his knowing. "If that means returning late to Konoha and being beaten to a pulp by my sexy yet short-tempered teammate, then so be it."

"Well, we're happy to help."

"Thanks, Kisuke."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The room was pretty spartan, having only a fluffy futon and mattress in the corner, a sparse closet, and a rectangular window looking off into the alleyway. His new books were stacked against the wall and he was currently lounging on his bedding with a book in his hand. Basic Math for Idiots. He'd be insulted if not for the fact he was actually learning some new things from it. Order of operations? That was different.

There was still another thing nagging at his mind as his eyes flittered over the pages…he knew Jiraiya was right. Naruto was just too stubborn and his pride wouldn't allow him to lie back and take it. Ero-sennin better watch his ass because there was a forecast of pranks heading his way in the coming weeks.

'_This book is boring._' He dropped it on its spine and leaned back to look at the ceiling. His mind drifted back to his home, wondering what had changed in his absence. A soft rapping at his door knocked him out of his thoughts and revealed the young pigtailed girl, who proceeded to let him know that supper was ready. He left behind a clone to continue reading so that upon his return the copy could explain what it had learned. No way he was wasting any time with that ton of books.

Dinner was a tense affair, as neither Naruto nor Jiraiya were speaking to one another. Both were damn stubborn fools in their own right. Eventually the older man made a strangled noise in the back of his throat before setting down his chopsticks and staring intently at the blonde ninja to his left. "Alright. Finish your food and change into your shinobi uniform." The boy's brow furrowed as his eyes squinted in confusion.

"Why?" he asked quickly.

"Just shut up and do it. I placed your scrolls in front of your room." Naruto grunted in confirmation and continued to eat. The questioning look Kisuke sent to Jiraiya was soundly ignored as the toad sage himself stood to go and change. Soon enough the group found themselves climbing down a hidden ladder that dropped into an enormous underground cavern dwelling beneath the shop. When Jiraiya had asked his host if there were any large training grounds in the area away from prying eyes, the last thing he was expecting was to hear him actually answer yes. He figured they'd have to head out into the country. He especially wasn't expecting said grounds to actually be in the basement.

"Oh my! Look at this astounding place! Who knew such a wonder existed underneath my humble little candy shop~!" Urahara shouted in mock wonder, projecting his voice into the distance with a big grin plastered against his lips. He turned back around in his spot to see Jiraiya giving him a deadpanned stare of immense unbelievability. The ninja clearly didn't buy it.

"What the hell is this? How did you create such a place without anyone noticing?"

"Why, it was already here and we found it totally by accident one day when we were building a _small_ storage area!"

'_That's a lie if I ever heard one…_' "Right…"

"Look! We even decided to spruce it up a bit for aesthetic value whenever we came down here! We painted the ceiling-"

'_It's painted grey with fake clouds and there's no natural light anywhere._'

"-and we even planted trees to add some life!"

'_They're all dead._'

Kisuke chuckled, rubbing his hands together almost greedily. "We didn't have much to use it for yet, as apparently we still have no need for a second storage room but I suppose a training room will suffice instead." What he didn't mention was that the room was more than likely going to be used by another male at some point, but he kept that tidbit to himself.

"This is AWESOME!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, causing tears of unbridled joy to stream down Tessai's face for the heartfelt compliment. The display caused the shinobi to move away from the man, thinking Tessai was just very, very weird. He had no idea of the hard work that the tall man had put into the ginormous cavern.

A sharp whistle from his teacher caught Naruto's attention and before long the two ninja were standing in front of a large boulder, face to face. "Okay, it's simple. We're going to show our lovely viewers what a shinobi fight is like because I know they're curious and Kisuke does a fine job of gathering information for me. Like a treat for their eyes. Plus, you'll get some of your desired training time and I can work out my frustrations by slapping the stupid out of you."

"Wow. I can just feel the love."

"Oh, don't act like you won't enjoy it either, brat. Besides, if you can finally defeat me then you can skip school and we'll focus solely on training while we stay here. BUT-" he exclaimed, seeing the boy already moving to attack after that tidbit of information, "-but...if I win, and we both know I will, there will be no more bitching about your academics."

"Deal!"

_Then_ the blonde attacked, instantly going on the offensive and forcing Jiraiya to hop back. A swift punch to the sage's stomach brought a grin to Naruto's lips as the man bent over his outstretched arm…only for it to disappear just like Jiraiya had. In his place was a perfect log that dropped to the rocky terrain in a swirl of smoke.

"Oh come one! Where the hell did you find a perfectly cut log down here!" His answer came in the form of a large fireball that swung around the boulder and sailed straight towards his chest. Naruto quickly copied his sensei and kawamiri'd with a rock, nearly finding himself roasted alive by mere seconds. Twenty clones were created by the crafty shinobi, each swarming the rock to flush out their teacher from his cover. One application of chakra later and a swamp formed around the large rock that drowned more than half of the copies in its inky sludge.

"My, oh my~. This is actually pretty intense! I've never seen such fighting before!" The three employees of Urahara Shoten stared blankly at their boss, knowing full well he was lying through his teeth. "…what?" Their attention snapped back to the fight by a loud squawk and another flash of burning fire, followed by bellowing laughter. Kisuke winced when Jiraiya took a particularly nasty blow to the chin by a severely pissed Naruto, whose pants now had a large hole burned into the bum.

"I still think this is stupid and he's an idiot. What's the point in helping him? There's no way he can catch up and read so many books before the end of summer and actually gain something from them." Jinta pointed out as he kept a glare fixed on the blonde. Kisuke merely ruffled the boy's hair before patting it a few times with unneeded force.

"Don't worry about it! If Jiraiya thinks he can do it then he can do it!"He paused before smirking and looking at the boy slyly. "You're just jealous there's another boy around here whose as stubborn as you are."

"Shut up! You're just saying that because he gave you one of those stupid books again!"

"I honestly have no idea what you are implying." Kisuke shrugged and looked back out at the fight, slowly drawing his shirt closed to hide any hint of an orange cover nestled within. A new explosion caused the lot of them to brace themselves from the aftershock and gusting winds. As the air pressure died down to nothing, a small weight landed on Urahara's shoulder and a small yet masculine voice spoke out that caused him to smirk.

"What's all this? I was wondering where everybody was. I'm sensing reiryoku from those two over there but it's…diluted. Thinner than normal, as though another foreign energy was mixed with it." The cat sat on its haunches and groomed one of its paws as it watched the two combatants fighting hand-to-hand.

"Hello there, Yoruichi-chan. Those are our new guests, Naruto and Jiraiya."

"Oh…the 'ninjas' you would occasionally speak of, yes? Curious…" A new gleam had entered the feline's glowing yellow eyes. Having once been in a group with similar training, the cat was intrigued by the real specimens she had been copying for most of her 'life'. As of that moment, Jiraiya was standing on top of an automobile-sized red toad, destroying wave after wave of orange and black clones while slowly losing ground. One of the copies jumped at the man and tried to grab him but a kunai to the chest dispelled it instantly.

The sannin's own eyes widened imperceptibly before he dispelled his summon and leapt back, followed mere seconds by three explosive tags that detonated at once and nearly took Jiraiya with them. The clones that had survived outside of the blast's radius rushed forth to deal more damage, sending the older man into the air with a combination attack. He let them continue before twisting and lashing out, knocking away the clone that tried to kick him into the dirt and used the air above to regroup.

Having used the clone as a stepping stone to soar higher, Jiraiya decided on a way to end the spar. As his acceleration decreased and he hung weightlessly in the air, he raised his arm and focused chakra through his limb and into his hand. The energy warmed the palm and began to glow, rotating at faster and faster speeds until an orb of raw chakra twisting like a miniature cyclone encased in a ball. Back on the ground, Naruto had done the same technique with the aid of a clone before being spun around and thrown into the air after his sensei.

Jiraiya himself created a seal-less clone and used it to gain traction and he pushed off, using his own body weight and gravity to gain speed and force for his attack. The two spiraling spheres met midway and ground against each other in a screeching squeal of chakra. "RASENGAN!" Neither seemed to give an inch until Jiraiya pumped more of his energy into the technique and slowly crushed Naruto's own, destroying the other rasengan and drilling the boy back into the earth by his chest.

Naruto was bloody and shaking as blood dribbled down his torn skin and jacket, having never actually been on the receiving end of the Yondaime's attack before and now seeing first-hand why it was quite the tank buster. The feeling was nearly indescribable and a flash of anger coursed through his veins. That slip up of his emotions gave another access to his chakra coils. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, it continued to gain traction as dark red energy spilled forth from his tenketsu points, bubbling and burning his thought his nerves and across his skin. The foul chakra encased his whole body in a shell, instantly sealing the circular wound shut with a sickening hiss. He could feel his control waning heavily as two long tails burst out of his tailbone like a rocket, followed closely by a third. Dropping down on his hands, he had his legs bowed to allow easier movement as the crimson energy bubbled upwards into two fox-like ears. With a shrieking roar, he jumped and disappeared. Four indents were left in the stone as he reappeared next to Jiraiya and slapped him away with his middle tail.

"What is this?" Kisuke, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta had all moved to their feet, feeling the demonic energy pouring out of Naruto by the gallon. Even Yoruichi had hopped to the ground, the cat's fur inexplicably bristling as the animal instincts took over and caused her to hiss. Jiraiya had a look of fear etched across his face as he hastily tried to dig something out of his shirt, keeping his eyes glued on the growling form of his student. Kyuubi had used the weakness in his mental state to force its energy through, and by the looks of it Naruto was about to go four tails. That would be the highest he had ever gone and by the looks of it, dangerous for all.

The boy's skin began peeling away, the muscle underneath dying deep red as his blood flowed out and covered his entire body and chakra shell until his whole body looked like a miniature bloody fox. A fourth tail slithered out and waved along with the other three as the miniature fox avatar roared and charged at the man in a blind fury. Jiraiya jumped into the air and spun, narrowly dodging the initial attack but still falling prey to the darkened claw that branched out of the Kyuubified blonde's neck. The fake limb crashed against his chest and continued its velocity, crashing him into one of the battleground's rocky outcroppings in a spray of dust and stone chunks.

Jinta had a large club of iron in his hands that he had pulled from somewhere, Ururu was limbering her joints as the demonic presence had sent her into suppression mode, Tessai had begun creating a spell for containment, and even Yoruichi was more alert and on edge while ready to transform at a moment's notice. However, a staying hand from Kisuke kept the others from rushing off and attacking. He shook his head for added emphasis but kept his hand tightly around the curve of his cane.

Out from the cloud cover a figure appeared, jumping high into the air and revealing itself to naturally be Jiraiya. The man had a rasengan formed in his hands again and was intent on driving it into the bloodied neo-fox. The creature itself saw the attack coming and had opened its pointy maw wide past its normal opening point like a snake, a glowing ball of white and black energy forming between the sharp fangs. Jiraiya pumped more and more chakra into his technique, willing it to hold together right before he shoved it into Naruto's mouth.

"Gōketsu Rasengan (Gallant Rasengan)!" At that moment Naruto went to swallow the extremely dense ball of yin and yang chakra but the opposing sphere slammed against it and sent the mini-biju's control askew. As the toad sage's attack exploded into four times its normal size, Naruto's attack literally imploded and detonated, engulfing the both of them in a mass eruption and fire-laced wind.

Tessai shielded the children and Yoruichi from any shrapnel as Kisuke turned away, a hand holding his bucket hat against his hair tightly so as to not lose it in the chaos. As the gusting pressure died down, their vision cleared enough to see the remains of the clash of moves. Jiraiya was imbedded deeply in the boulder, blood flowing freely from a massive wound carved into his chest. Naruto was on his back with the blood around his body losing consistency and form. The creature was wailing pitifully as its body seemed to steam and slowly pull itself back together.

A large glob of red liquid splattered against the rock as the white-haired man emptied his mouth and struggled to free himself. Despite his life-threatening injuries, he still somehow managed to un-wedge himself and stumble/run at the recovering jinchuriki. Brandishing a square slip of parchment, Jiraiya slapped the tag smack dab in the center of the boy's forehead and watched as it immediately went to work. The blood-soaked shell seemed to inflate before being sucked right into the seal, revealing the badly damaged and unconscious body of Uzumaki Naruto underneath. Every inch of his exposed skin had disappeared and revealed shiny muscle hidden underneath. It hissed and smoked, before the missing epidermis slowly regenerated before their very eyes. A loud, wet smack rang out as well as the sannin finally lost the internal battle and slipped away into a dreamless rest.

Kisuke frowned, most of his face hidden away by his head covering as his right-hand man rushed forward to begin cleanup. That had gone much differently than he thought it would. Jiraiya never mentioned his apprentice had something like an inner hollow like the Visored, and apparently his hollow form was that of a fox, as well as being highly self-destructive to itself. He really didn't want to know how much damage that extremely dense cero would have caused if it had been released. He watched as Tessai initiated emergency healing on the two ninja and he turned, knowing he would need to grab some equipment to make sure the two lived. While he had the feeling that neither of them had any idea what hollows were, Jiraiya still had some explaining to do once he finally came around.

Until then, he'd catch up on his fellow pervert's new book while the duo recovered~.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"…hoooooooooly fuck…kuh…-*wheeze*-…thank -*cough*- thank y-you, shadow cl-clones…" Jiraiya felt like Gamabunta had jumped on him, and all of the toad's weight had centered right on his ribcage. When Jiraiya had attacked with the giant rasengan, it was actually a kage bunshin he had created after being bitch slapped by the chakra claw. The poisonous energy had burned on contact and dug deep, leaving him in no position to attack head on himself. And if had truly been the one to thrust a rasengan into a bijudama, well then he knew he would _truly_ be dead.

Sharp, conflicting pain in his chest brought his thoughts crashing back to the present as he grunted out in pain. It was worse than when Tsunade caught him peeping on her in the bath when they were younger and she nearly killed him. A manic giggled from the doorway caused the man to incline his head only to see Kisuke with his nose stuffed into Jiraiya's book as he leaned against the doorframe. The small cat with a coat of pure black was at his feet, demurely looking around the room as though bored. Did they always have a cat?

"Oh good, you're awake. You took quite a beating down there. We were able to patch you up but I'm afraid you'll have a scar. It would have raised too many questions that we couldn't answer if we took you to a hospital. You were quite lucky. On another note; I. Love. This." he added, poking the cover of his dirty novel with every word. The ninja merely chuckled and coughed, giving him a nod.

The medical staff would have wanted to know what happened, and why Jiraiya and Naruto had no personal information for request. They couldn't exactly tell them they were from a hidden continent, now could they? "How's Naruto?" he finally asked.

"He woke up an hour before you, ate an ungodly amount of food after seeing you were still alive, and then went back to sleep. He was down in the dumps over his little transformation and would barely talk…anything that you might wanna share about that?"

Weary eyes regarded the man who still hadn't looked away from the pages and he wondered if there was some greater meaning behind his query. "_That_ was the reason he's had a hard life."

"Has he always had that?"

"Look…-*cough*-…it's best to just let it go."

The man finally looked away from his novel, his eyes peeking over the top edge of the pages. "Sorry, I'm just naturally curious. But if your student will be putting my employees in constant danger then once you heal I'll have to ask you to find somewhere else to stay." Jiraiya sighed and rubbed a palm over his face. How much could he actually give away to satiate Kisuke without giving it all?

"O-okay…yes, he's had it since birth. It -*cough*-*cough*- was s-sealed inside of him to protect our village from destruction…and I really ca-can't tell you more…" The shopkeep poked the rim of his hat up to give him a clearer view, raising his eyebrow in question. "It's a village law…no one can speak of it or they face death…except Naruto or the Hokage…-*cough*-"

"Huh…I guess that involves the weird marking on his stomach. We saw it when we bandaged him up…then tell me this, then. Will we be in danger or was this a one-time thing?"

"Not…a one-time thing but…not constant danger. Naruto's been stressed from the shift in priorities and…I should have seen this coming. Extreme duress or anger makes him change…in hindsight, fighting him should have waited until he had calmed down and got used to the idea…-*wheeze*- but he pissed me o-off…"

"Hindsight is 20/20, as they say." Both men chuckled, though one was pained. "Alright, thanks for sating my curiosity. I've learned you ninjas are all secrets and whatnot, but I have a business and friends to protect." Jiraiya gave him a 'makes sense' gesture before laying flat and carefully placing a hand against his bandages. A stray thought hit him like a train, bringing a sly smile to his face.

"Say, Kisuke…if you…really wanna make me feel better…"

"Yoruichi's not here, Jiraiya. And no, I won't try to bribe her into anything. I thought she made it painfully obvious last time that she wasn't into you." he laughed. The feline, who Jiraiya had nearly forgotten was in the room with them, seemed to choose that moment to glide out through the doorway with all the fluid grace it possessed. Kisuke didn't even bat an eye as the cat's tail brushed against his exposed leg on the way out.

"You never know. It's been awhile and she might've gotten the wanderlust. I…don't see how a woman **that** sexy can act all flirty with me and yet…still not want any of this fine stallion…"

"That's just how she is. Gets you hot and bothered and then walks off laughing when you're rarin' to go. I think she sees it as some sort of game."

"…you know from experience, don't you?"

…

…

"SHUT UP! BOO HOOO HOOOOOO!" Kisuke turned and ran, over-exaggerated tears streaming down his face as he dashed towards him room to weep freely. Jiraiya just rolled his eyes and shook his head. It looks like his friend needed to get laid.

Badly.

As a matter of fact, so did Jiraiya. Plus, he had sob story and injury to add to sweeten the deal. Who knows, maybe the women out here would be just as moved by his plight as the ones back home? Oh, he couldn't wait to be able to move around normally again!

Neither of the men knew that the cat had indeed heard the tail end of their conversation and rolled its eyes. It was just fun teasing them. When Yoruichi finally wanted some, then they would damn well know it. Or…she could then tease them with the fact she was horny and yet they still wouldn't be getting any from her. A very human-like grin spread over the cat's face, causing the passing Jinta to pick up the pace as he moved down the hallway towards his room. Whenever Yoruichi got that look it meant dangerous thoughts were running through her head, and he wanted no part of it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was on his bed, an arm draped over his eyes as he laid in total darkness. He hadn't lost control like that since he fought Sasuke at the Valley of the End. And even then, it wasn't that bad. The fox must have really wanted to escape because it had poured a lot of its energy into his system, overriding his thought process and manipulating the negative emotions in his heart. All he remembered was pain, like his own skin had liquefied, and then he was waking up covered in sticky bandages.

He had gone to see Jiraiya and found the man still unconscious, somehow still alive even though the blonde had apparently carved a huge crater into his teacher's chest. All of this was because he hated the idea of going back to school. They should have been training to harness his prisoner's power like how he was originally promised! That way this sort of thing didn't happen again! Ugh…

Then he went for food, eating as much as he could because somehow they were replacing it just as fast as he was putting it away. Then he had returned to his room and pretended to go to fall back asleep, instead taking the time to ponder on the day's events. With a sigh, he rolled over and his eyes locked onto the discarded math book his clone had been reading. The technique had ruptured when the fox took over and the clone dispelled, leaving the learning device where it still rested. The weirdest part he couldn't explain, was he had memories of reading on past the page he had stopped at when he clearly hadn't. How could he, when he had been downstairs in a fight? Weird. Maybe he was only imaging it.

A soft rapping at the door caused him to sit up, imaging that the little Ururu girl was there again. Naruto really didn't feel like answering though. When the noise stopped he breathed a sigh of relief, believing she had left when suddenly the door rattled and opened. He moved to tell them off for entering but stopped when he saw who it was. Jiraiya.

"…how're you feeling, kiddo?"

"…like crap. What about you?"

He pointed at his bandages, giving a wry grin. "You think this could keep me down?" He chuckled. Naruto didn't, causing the man to lose his smile and stumble into the room where he sat at the edge of the blonde's bed. "Alright, enough of the pout. It's not manly."

"I lost control and almost killed you. How is that not a good thing?"

"Because I'm still alive, idiot!" He rubbed at his temples, feeling the twinge of his muscles as he forced injured muscles to move. "Look…yes, you lost control. And yes, I had to explain a bit to our host. But I didn't tell all of it, just the bare basics."

"Then this should tell you why we should be out training instead of me going off and wasting time at a school."

"Actually, this reinforces my idea of you going;" The boy looked at him with a 'WTF' expression slipping through his features and Jiraiya couldn't help but laugh. "Oh man! That was a riot! The look on your face…hehe…phew…okay, I'm good. But seriously. You lost control because you were freaking out, right?"

"I was not freaking out…"

"Not physically, but your mental defenses were weakened by the turn of events. In turn, that allowed your guest to sneak in and influence you. You may have high defenses from keeping it at bay, but even you can have a lapse in your psyche's armor. Which is why I reiterate; go to school. By having to study, your mind will constantly be learning and working, keeping your mind sharp and forcing you to reinforce your internal will. In other words, school will help keep you from being taken over when your emotions are high."

The blonde nodded slowly, only really understanding the last half of the spiel. "I see that. But couldn't we get the same results from you teaching me ninja stuff? I'd be kept busy with things I actually enjoy."

"Oh, you're still going to be training. After all, I never did say you were only going to be doing school work. When did I ever say we _weren't _going to continue working on our original plan of making you stronger?" He watched in amusement as he watched his godson go through a flurry of emotions, before settling on cold indifference. The boy's arms slowly raised as his hands moved into a slow curl aimed for the pervert's neck. Jiraiya guffawed and pushed the blonde away, stopping him from his strangulation attempt.

"I friggin' hate you right now. Why didn't you ever say that earlier?" he asked heatedly, growling at the other man. Jiraiya merely shrugged and leaned back a bit, rubbing a hand over one of his shoulders.

"Because I was able to learn something, although I didn't know it would be this painful. Up until your third tail you still have some small control over your body. At four tails you lose all control and become a mini-Kyuubi. We can work with that and learn where to go from there once I tweak the seal a bit. Maybe allow more of its youki to enter your system so you can work on control."

"So I'll be going to school to work on my brain and then training with you to work everything else."

"That's the gist of it."

Naruto remained quiet for nearly a minute before flopping back and grumbling loudly. "I can live with that, I guess. Tomorrow's the weekend, right? I'll go look for the school and figure out the lay of the land."

"That's good. I was going to send you out anyways. After all, you fainted first so I won the fight."

"What? No fair! That shouldn't count!"

"Too bad, kid!"

Naruto growled and gave him the finger, squinting his eyes in annoyance. "I'll kick your ass next time, and all on my own!" Jiraiya rolled his eyes but smiled all the same. There was no way in hell that would ever happen but it looked like his godson was finally pulling out of his emotional funk.

"With my training you'll be able to beat anyone. Except me, of course but hey, them's the breaks. Now it's getting late and we both need our rest to recover."

"Wait! I, uh, have a question…when I woke up I noticed I had memories of reading the math book but it was about parts i never read about yet. My clone dispelled too when I lost control. Did that have something to do with it?"

Jiraiya was looking at him intently now, and it caused the boy to feel as though he had done something wrong. "You had a clone reading while we were downstairs?"

"Well…yeah. I was gonna have it tell me what it learned when we were done." Once more the sage's face dropped into an unreadable expression that the boy was unable to decipher, but he was saved from the awkwardness when the older man finally squeaked out another sentence.

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Really? You really haven't noticed over the years, even with the huge ass amount you've made? Shit, kid. You really _are_ dense!"

"Just shut up and spit it out already!"

"That's a contradiction." Naruto inhaled slowly and deeply, feeling a headache slowly aching in between his eyes as the man continued to dodge the question.

"Just tell me, okay?"

"Bah, buzzkill. Alright, alright. What you experienced was memetic transfer from clone to creator. Maybe it was because you always created a large amount and everything became too jumbled or unclear to sort, but upon their death or dispelling the kage bunshin will transfer their memories and experiences back to the original person."

"…so you're saying I could have been using them to train? Like when I was trying to get the rasengan down and I could've had a bunch of them working on popping balloons?"

"Yeah. For control and experience? That's about it. But any physical regime wouldn't work as you can't transfer a muscle workout. I'm honestly surprised you never noticed. I didn't mention it because I thought you were being, like, noble or something and training without it to prove yourself."

"…Kakashi-sensei knew this too, didn't he." It wasn't a question.

"More than likely."

"Then you better train me damn well so I can kick both of your asses."

A loud, boisterous laugh escaped from Jiraiya as the blonde flexed his hands again. Someone was gonna get choked. Waving it off, the toad summoner stood and moved towards his open door lest anything comically stupid happened. "I'll be off then. Night, Naruto."

"Goodnight, pervert."

The sannin let loose an annoyed grunt and punched his forehead with more force than necessary, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto moved his arm, pushing away the lingering clouds and clearing the air of enough of its smokescreen to stare at the now empty room.

"Bastard. He was gonna use a shadow clone to talk to me and not even tell me that they had such an ability. Not until I brought the damn topic up…" The blonde flopped back down onto his mattress, his mind ticking away at new ways he could now use his clones. Looks like tomorrow he was going to have his copies read as much as they could while he was out an about. At least now he didn't have to waste time reading them himself…oh god, that would have been so boring.

"Merw?"

The shinobi blinked and shot up into a sitting position, his eyes roaming throughout the darkened room as the hilt of a kunai found purchase in his grip. A pair of gleaming yellowed orbs looked up at him curiously from the foot of his bed. He relaxed at the sight, sighing melodramatically as he set the knife on his dresser and scooped up the creature into his arms. He didn't know they had a cat. Maybe it was Ururu's, or even Tessai's or Kisuke's. He highly doubted the chibi, redheaded ball of happy sunshine could care for a pet without somehow destroying it. And he had gotten that vibe from Jinta after only knowing him for about a day.

"Well hello there, kitty-chan. You're a quiet little thing, arent'cha? I didn't even sense you come in." The feline mewled and rubbed its face against his bicep while purring throatily, looking up at him with an inquisitive stare. "I was getting ready to go to sleep but I guess you're welcome to stay." He gently placed the animal on his covers and scrambled underneath. He would have loved to have had a pet back in Konoha but his apartment was a 'no animals allowed' kind of deal. It was why he kept a few plants on his windowsill to help fill in the loneliness but it just wasn't the same. The cat could live in his new room now for all he cared and Naruto would gladly welcome it.

As he settled into place and the peace slowly drew out the day's fatigue and stress from his muscles, he felt a small weight crawl onto his chest and settle down. The blonde chuckled minutely and scratched the cat behind its ears, the slow ministrations bringing out yet another purr. He paid it no mind when the cat persisted to look at him in the darkness, its tail slowly waving behind as though in a trance.

'_This boy seems as interesting as that proxy shinigami that Kisuke's stumbled across. I think I'll stick around for a bit, seeing as these two are likely to cross paths at some point._' Yoruichi thought to herself as she continued to stare at the still form of the shinobi. That power of his was as terrifying as a hollow and by the looks of it he still needed to fully control it. They could always use another person (or cat) around to keep him in line in case things spiraled out of control again. But then they would have to reveal that they weren't normal humans either…oh well, they'd burn that bridge when it finally rolled around. Until then, the others were just the normal employees of a small candy shop in the suburbs and she was an ordinary house cat.

She liked this Naruto kid too. He had quite the likable aura coursing off of him in waves and seemed like a good kid. Bit of a loudmouth and hotheaded, but that was to be expected of a boy his age. Yoruichi finally settled down and closed her eyes, ready to nod off herself. Besides, it was rather comfy and warm here on his bed and she lost all will to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"North…north…well dammit, which way is north? Great…"

Once again clad in civilian clothing, Naruto rubbed his forehead in frustration while momentarily realizing the skin felt naked without his headband in place. He had stepped out early to try and find his way around the neighborhood, leaving the snoozing cat to drown in his covers. The small thing had barely stirred when he slipped out of his bedding and proceeded to change clothing. The oddest part was that every time he faced the closet, the strange pressure would begin tickling at the base of his skull. Like someone was watching him. Yet every time he spun around there was never anyone _or_ anything and the cat remained in its unmoving spot. So strange.

Every way he looked, the buildings and landmarks all looks strikingly familiar to each other. Nothing like his own home. His sense of direction had totally been blown away like dust in the wind. Perhaps a map or compass would have made the whole ordeal easier…how else could he return to the warm comfortable feeling of 'being sure where the hell you were'?

A thought cropped into his mind, some long forgotten tip he had learned years ago during one of the classes he had actually attended. Iruka mentioned something about finding the cardinal directions easily during the day but he had been so engrossed in staring at his pink-haired crush, that the lecture had merely flowed in one ear and became lost in a sea of ramen, being a ninja, and the meshing colors of orange and pink. His mild panic had thrust the memory to the forefront of his mind and almost immediately he was no longer standing in the middle of a street, but now back in the stuffily oppressing classroom he had grown to love and hate over the years. Though his 'eyes' were still focused on the intent pout of Sakura as she took notes, his 'ears' broke their filter and allowed the mild baritone voice of his teacher to creep in.

"_Even the most hardened shinobi can become lost, and that is nothing to be ashamed about. Terrain shifts, a genjutsu ensnares your senses and turns you around, or any other number of technicalities may give you the feeling of being lost. But the solution is rather simple; all you need to do is look at the sun._"

_A student asked the man a question but Naruto simply had no memory of his words. A small mumbling sounded and Iruka chuckled, shaking his head good-naturedly. "Of course! Yes, looking directly at the sun can impair your vision and even cause blindness if you gaze at it for long periods of time. But I'm not telling you to stare at the sun for hours on end just to locate your position. All you need to remember is that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. So by learning the position of the sun, you could actually guess what the current time is alongside finding out which way is north, south, east, and west. But we'll work on the time-telling at another time. Now everyone outside! Mizuki and I are going to distort your senses and then you are going to use the sun's position to guess the direction you are facing. NOW MOVE IT!"_

_A collective groan escaped every student, even the ones who were barely paying attention. As Younger Naruto grunted and stood, the world dissolving around him until _he was once again back in the real world. Look at the sun, eh? Simple enough. And it was actually an exercise that had been easy for him.

Squinting skyward, he found the burning mass of helium low in the sky and, conveniently enough, directly in the front of him. So he was facing…east! Hot damn! But…that really didn't help at all now that he thought about it. Which way had he originally come from? Maybe he could use kage bunshin to map out his surroundings now that he knew of their information gathering skill? ...no. He wasn't supposed to use any ninja skills. But he could hide and then use it. Maybe? His face was screwed up in heavy concentration, the background sound dropping off into white noise as his concentration peaked. It was always the same when he focused on a new technique or skill. All of his being would go towards understanding how to make it work until something finally broke his concentration.

A tap on his shoulder caused the boy to spin around at the touch, his hand already at his pocket where he had hidden a few weapons before leaving. His 'assailant' squeaked in surprise at the harshness of his turn and fell backwards, landing on their butt and grunting at the unwanted impact. His sense of danger immediately died away as he realized the person was nothing more than a girl dressed in a uniform. Maybe she was a student. Maybe he could ask how the hell he could get to school!

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I was just thinking really hard and when you tapped me, I was surprised." The girl's mouth twitched upwards into a bright smile as she accepted Naruto's offered hand, rising to her feet as she brushed the dust off from her skirt. He reached down to pick up her fallen school bag but his senses told him to move, and not a second too late. A foot sailed through the air where his face had been moments before and he instantly reacted just as Jiraiya had drilled into him. His forearm blocked the blow and in a split second decision, decided not to snap the leg as it would draw unnecessary attention he didn't want. Instead he used his free hand to swat the limb away and jump backwards to gain distance.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, pervert!" Naruto blinked stupidly, his head turning every which way to see if his sensei had somehow wound up in the same area as he. Not noticing any flashes of white hair or perverse giggles floating through the air, the confused boy raised a questioning finger and pointed to himself.

"Uh, me?"

"Yeah, you! You were trying to feel up Orihime!" He was? Naruto was pretty sure he would have noticed if his hands had strayed against the female he had startled. So naturally, he gave the newest intruder a once over and deadpanned glare.

"Are you stupid? I was picking her bag up."

"Like hell you were! I saw where your hand was going! You were reaching for her leg!" Once again Naruto's hand was rubbing the skin of his forehead in irritation. He was wanting to go back to Konoha. Things were actually less annoying there, and that was saying something.

"No. I was reaching for her bag. Ask her yourself." The supposedly named Orihime nodded staunchly, moving between the blonde and the other uniformed girl as an act of peace. Orihime's arms were flailing about as she did her best to dissuade her friend from another act of violence against a stranger.

"It's true, Tatsuki-chan! I saw him thinking really hard so I went to see if he needed any help, but I surprised him and I fell over and then he helped me up and then he went to pick up my bag and then-"

"Okay! Okay…I believe you. I guess from the angle I was at it looked like his hand was about to hitch up your skirt."

"Aaaaand?"

Tatsuki stood rigidly, her posture clearly screaming she was uncomfortable with what Orihime was expecting her to do. The somehow angry yet adorable pout she was receiving from her friend finally caused the hothead to crack and mumble out a sentence. "Sorry…for attacking you…"

Naruto sighed and waved his hand before placing both of them in his jacket pockets. "Don't worry about it, I guess…I'd freak out too if I saw someone trying to feel up a friend. Still, you coulda at least _tried_ to see what was going on before attempting to rearrange my face. I like my face. It's a nice face."

Tatsuki sneered but Orihime clasped her hands behind her back happily and smiled again. To her, all was well in her universe once again. Naruto finally retrieved the bubbly girl's handbag and handed it to her, which she graciously accepted. By then the fighter had calmed enough and was watching the shinobi with a curious eye. Now that she had classified him as not a threat to the innocent Orihime, though still wary of any wandering hands or roving eyes, she was interested in what the blonde had done only moments before.

Tatsuki loved karate. While most teenage girls were into makeup and boys and pop stars, she was a firm lover of martial arts. Particularly karate. She had started at a young age and continued to grow in strength and skill, until now where she was able to be a participant in the nationals. To meet someone who could not only block her kick but redirect it was rare. She did smile to herself though upon noticing the boy was unconsciously rubbing his arm where the flat of her foot had connected.

"So, so! Are you new around here? I'm Inoue Orihime!" Leave it to Orihime to lighten the mood and try and make a new friend at the same time. It was a reason she liked the other female so much. Her chipper attitude and playful nature had drawn Tatsuki to be her friend, and also protector when the time came. The girl was surprisingly adept at martial arts when Tatsuki had taught her a bit, but the girl was just too kind-hearted to actually use it to hurt anyone.

She watched as the blonde went from rubbing his arm to rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin and a small smatter of chuckles. "Aha…yeah. My, uh…uncle and I just got into town yesterday and I came out to look around town. I got lost though looking for the school I'm supposed to be joining after the summer break."

"Oh! Which are you looking for! Tatsuki-chan and I are enrolled at Karakura High School and we were on our way there right now!"

"Uh…yeah, I think that's what it was called. By the way, I'm Uzumaki Naruto." he added, finally introducing himself to the two girls. Orihime nodded and gave a slight curtsy, and Tatsuki returned with a small smile of her own. And then it hit her.

"Wait…fishcake?" Her grin returned full force when the boy's face dropped into an irritated scowl. Looks like that was something he was ribbed about a lot.

"It's maelstrom, dammit! Maelstrom…but you'd know about silly names, wouldn't you _Tatsuki-chan_?" The girl immediately raised a threatening fist at his rebuke and took a heavy step forward but was stopped by her friend's calming grip. She liked her name! It stood for dragon…even if it was originally a name for males.

"That's Arisawa Tatsuki, and keep harping on it and you'll find my foot against your nose!"

"You really want to try kicking me again in a billowy skirt? Who knows what kinda pervs are around." '_Like Jiraiya._'

Orihime stepped in once again, having become quite adept over the years as a way to help calm her best friend's temper. "Hey! We need to hurry up and head to class! Uzumaki-san can join us as well if he wishes. You know that Ms. Ochi hates tardiness." That was a blatant lie. Their teacher was a bit…off, and she'd just ask them to take their seats and tell them not to do it again. But if it happened again, well…she didn't really seem to care.

Tatsuki did indeed calm herself a bit, taking a deeper breath to center her core before shaking her head and taking a step forward to begin the rest of her journey to school. She could always take her frustrations out on Keigo or Chizuru later on. Knowing them, they'd do something stupid anyways which would then segway into her happy beat down. "Yeah, yeah. Alright. Sorry for freaking out. Let's just go already." She made sure to position herself between Naruto and Orihime as the trio began walking down the street, making small talk as a way to pass the time.

She used the advantage to take a closer look at the boy strolling along to her left. He must have been from America or even Germany with that bright blonde hair and the bluish eyes, but his face showed there had to be some Asian descent in their somewhere. His clothes were a bit baggy but with her inspection she could see the athletic build hidden within. But the way he smiled and closed his eyes…he sort of looked like one of those foxes illustrated in manga. His demeanor was aloof, but his physique reminded her of a shorter version of her spiky-haired friend Ichigo.

Unbeknownst to her, Naruto was doing the exact same thing with his new acquaintances. The girl to his right, this _Tatsuki_, was a willowy, lithe girl around his own age. It was still easy to spot the muscle concealed beneath her smooth, pale skin tone. It was the musculature of someone who trained relentlessly and it really showed if that kick from before was anything to go by. Short hair, shorter than even Sakura's the last time he saw her, shone as black as a raven as it spiked off from her scalp. Her brownish eyes were sharp against her lean face. Her figure wasn't very full, looking more boyish than feminine but one could still tell she was all female with an average yet still sizable bust. Though she didn't seem to care much about appearance or other girly type things, she was still a cute girl.

The girl next to her however was someone Jiraiya would be salivating over and honoring inside one of his smut novels. Orihime was around the same height as Tatsuki (meaning an inch or so shorter than himself) but that was where the differences ended. Whereas the dark-haired girl was slender and not very curvaceous, Orihime was very mature looking for being only a teenager. Long, auburn-orange hair cascaded down to her waist and the fringe of her forehead was parted in the middle and held at bay by a pair of light blue hair clips. She too had warm brown eyes, gazing our naively from her soft features. She must have developed early due to her prominent and impressive chest size and curved hips and waist that the uniform failed to hide. She wasn't quite the size of Tsunade but her breasts were damn well close enough, and without the minor sag of gravity either.

Both girls were in what he guessed to be the female version of Karakura's school outfit. A short-sleeved, white dress shirt tied at the top by a red ribbon. The look was finished off by a grey pleated skirt, and shoes and socks of their choosing.

The conversation had dropped off at some point as Naruto took to memorizing where buildings were and other location markers. He turned his head when he heard someone's throat clear, only to see Tatsuki regarding him with an almost…excited emotion hidden away in her eyes.

"I meant to ask before but what martial arts do you study?"

"Huh?"

"…martial arts? Hand-to-hand combat? Y'know…what you used when I tried to hit you? There was no way that was all instinct. I could tell how your movements flowed together and that you conditioned your mind and body to react that way."

He remained silent as the two schoolmates peered at him curiously but before long it was like a switch was flipped. His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers in triumph, as though he had just unlocked the answer to a question burning away at his mind. "Oh! You mean taijutsu! Yeah yeah, I gotcha now. It was frog kata."

"Frog kata?"

"Taijutsu?"

Naruto sniffed and realized he had slipped a bit in his excitement of figuring out what she was asking. It would take some skill to smooth things over and bring their attention onto something else. "Uh…hey! Is that the school?" Good job. Both girls followed his pointing finger and Orihime seemed to instantly snap from her confusion, bouncing on the balls of her feet as they stood in front of the building. Other students wearing the uniforms were slowly moving through the gates, meeting up with their friends as they used the precious minutes before classes began to catch up with the others.

"Yep! Sure is! Are you going to come in with us, Uzumaki-san?" The blonde scratched at his cheek and shook his head, giving the busty redhead a small smile. She, however, seemed to understand what he was about to do and pouted again.

"Sorry, but I don't think I'd be allowed in since I'm still not a student yet." '_At least that's what Ero-sennin and Bucket Hat said._ _I'd have to wait until the day was over first._'

"Mou…I wanted to show you around. You could always come back after classes were finished and then we could."

"What about club activities, Orihime?" She seemed to deflate again at Tatsuki's words, softly kicking at a stone on the path. In her excitement, the Crafts Club had totally slipped her mind.

"Oh yeah…I almost forgot…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll probably see each other again and if not then I know I'll be here after summer ends."

Her face instantly lit up into another bright smile as did Tatsuki though it was more subdued than Orihime's. The boy noticed both looked rather attractive with the smiles but shook it away. Damn his hormonal body. If Jiraiya caught wind that he had been out with two girls and that he thought they were both pretty, then the poor ninja would never hear the end of it.

"That's true! We could give you a tour around town since you're new here, as well!"

"Well actually that's what I've been doing already but it would be nice to have someone around that actually knows where everything is." He told them where he was staying due to the final bell being close to sounding. The girls bid him goodbye and finally entered the premises, him watching them go as others on the inside were looking at him peculiarly. Probably wondering why he was outside their gates and not in any affiliated uniform. Giving a shrug, Naruto turned on his heel and began to walk away. He still had the whole day ahead of him to learn more about the town and then-

He paused, looking left and then right before glancing behind in confusion. Then it finally hit him like a raging bull. He still had no idea how to get back to Urahara Shoten, and it completely slipped his mind on asking the girls where it was! Fucking fuck!

A few random passerbyers gave a wide berth to the blonde boy, wondering why he was in the middle of the street beating his forehead against a light post. The dull thumps echoing against his cursing and mumbling. He was going to ask Jiraiya for some form of tracking jutsu once he finally returned. He hated getting lost, dammit!

It never did occur to the boy that he could've just asked _anyone_ for directions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_A/N: Yup, Another one. And might I just say, holy shit; a story that doesn't start off with Naruto already being a hollow or shinigami. I think I may have just divided by zero. Lololol_

_This is the first of three stories that will have a similar opening. This one, the Haruhi Suzumiya one I promised long ago, and another Katekyo Hitman Reborn. All will have Naruto going to a school and yet still a ninja. There's also a Harry Potter crossover I was thinking of that involves a way of melding the two that I'm pretty sure has not been done before. Plus he won't be given a mission to watch over HP nor will he be given a class to teach. I don't think there's a HS crossover where Naruto is in their universe and __still__ a ninja. Or maybe there was and I just didn't look at it. And I have poll on my page to help discern Naruto's flame type for KHR. I'm banking on moon even though I know it's been done before but it's the one I already came up with an idea for first._

_That said, while I'm adding new stories, that doesn't mean I've given up on my others. Just check my profile sometime and you'll see there are none in the abandoned/deleted section except my old attempt at a Naruto/RK cliche story and my Naruto/Fairy Tail story that was more practice than an actual attempt. Just because there's nothing been added for awhile doesn't mean I've forgotten._

_But I will add that a few of my older stories will be rewritten at some point. I've been able to increase my writing skill as some of you have pointed out, and will more than likely fix the others. Plus I may space things better, seeing as I rushed romance or plot in a few of them. Ebony Shield, Lost in the Elements, and possibly Ask Not for the Toll._

_Alright, now onto this story. Naruto/Bleach. Follows Bleach Canon. Naruto will become a substitute shinigami like Ichigo later on but he's actually going to have a zanpakuto that DOESN'T INVOLVE LIGHTNING OR WIND OR DRAGONS! OHMYGOD! No, it'll be unique and quite different, and one I enjoy very much. Hell, I'd love to have this zanpakuto as my own. I just need to figure out what the sword's avatar would look like and what its full bankai name will be and boom. Done. I actually created other zanpakuto's but decided against them, and will probably post them on my profile for others to use if they wish._

_Pairings, idk. Not a super harem, no matter how many hot girls there are. No Konoha girls, and if harem it's going to be small. Already know one who will be in it but not gonna say yet, heh heh. I was thinking of putting Ichigo with Tatsuki or Rukia, as I really like that pairing. Tatsuki's been his friend for years so there has to be some feelings there. And Rukia turned his world upside down and gave him the ability to fight. So yeah. But then again I wouldn't mind seeing them with Naruto.  
_

_Carry on._


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I almost did own Naruto and Bleach at one point…but that's what I get for thinking a pair of 2's was a 'sure hand'.

Chapter 2:

Time sure does fly when there was nothing more to do than eat, sleep, read, and train. On occasion Naruto would even venture out back into the wide, bright world and reacquaint himself with his newest surroundings. He believed no matter how many seconds, or minutes, _no_...even hours or days, the commotion of this world would never grow to become acceptable. But still, he took it all in stride to do what his occupation was renowned to do and blend in like a local.

Days continued to pass and he marked off his calendar, noting idly that it was still two days before the student's bliss began and school was let out for the summer. Though his new female acquaintances had agreed to try and stop by Urahara Shoten to do whatever it was they were going to do, projects and tests kept both Orihime and Tatsuki, as well as the majority of Karakura High School, from effectively having any true free time. They _had_ stopped by once but to his chagrin it was during one of the times he had moved off into the forest to practice. Upon his return later that night he was met with the matching grins of his teacher and Kisuke, hearing nonstop about the two _pretty young things_ for the following few days. Stupid perverts. At least when he checked them out it was inconspicuously instead of blatantly showing his intentions.

The blond had also grown somewhat used to his fellow boarders…varied as they were. Jinta was still a brat. Ururu was fine once you were past her timid shell and were able to get her voice to pick up higher than a soft whimper. Urahara was a civilian version of Jiraiya, and a might less flamboyant to boot. Tessai…he was unsure how to classify Tessai. Naruto just couldn't get a good read on the guy and the two barely interacted as it was.

And then there was his stalwart, fluffy sleeping partner Kitty-chan. When he has asked Kisuke about the cat, the man had only laughed (a rather boisterous amount, considering the rather simple question) and told the shinobi to take good care of Yoruichi in the meantime. The toad sage chose that moment to appear abruptly, searching the area for any sign of the supposed chocolate-skinned beauty but upon discovering it was also the feline's name the pervert slouched away in depression.

Naruto continued to fondly call her Kitty-chan anyways, enjoying it far more than using the title given to her by some gone-astray woman.

As the earth persisted in its ever present rotation and the whitish orb rose high in the sky, one Uzumaki Naruto laid down for bed just like any other night in his fifteen years of life. Unbeknownst to any of the sleeping occupants inside the store/home, the ageless wheels of fate began to turn in a completely new direction. One that would bring forth events to test the spirit and rip the body asunder of any mere man.

But luckily for the blond jinchuriki currently lost in his dreams, he was no ordinary man.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A faint whisper. A rush of cold air. The creak of floorboards. Naruto was instantly awake, up-ending Kitty-chan from her delicate perch on his stomach as he jumped out of the bed to tangle with the assailant. But as weary eyes scanned the darkened room he found nothing out of place. But to a ninja, that necessarily didn't mean anything.

The cat, though angry at being awoken so rudely, was now calmly following the blond with her yellowed eyes as he checked every nook and cranny in his room including the ceiling. But there was nothing out of place to be found. Naruto finally trudged back to his bed and plopped down on the mattress, scowling and scratching Yoruichi behind her ears as way of an apology.

"Sorry about that…but I swear someone just entered my room."

'_Something did. But they passed right through before you began your search._'

"Oh well. Guess it was just my imagination." The door rattled slightly in response as though to spite him. He swiftly strapped his weapons pouch to his thigh before taking off to apprehend whoever had the gall to break into his temporary home. If it was just Jinta being an idiot again he was going to punt that midget right between the legs.

A flash of white no brighter than a dying flashlight was noticed turning the corner and the action made him give chase. That hallway was nothing but a dead end and that guaranteed leading up to the capture. Feet padded along the wooden floorboards as victory was assured…but when Naruto himself rounded the corner, it was empty.

"Okay…what the fuck?"

"Meow?" Blue eyes tilted down to see his furred companion looking back quizzically. Damn, cats were sneaky. He'd almost think Yoruichi was the mysterious guest he was chasing but evidence clearly showed she wasn't.

"I'm confused. Whoever it was didn't get by me if they were invisible because I'd have felt the disturbance in the air. It could be a genjutsu…but only Ero-sennin could be the one to set it up and I can't think of a reason why he would. You don't think…it was a g-ghost, do you?"

The cat would have laughed if it wouldn't have given her away instantly. The look on his face…such a strong young man was _afraid_ of spirits and the paranormal? Well damn…he was interacting with the wrong set of people then. Naruto must have somehow sensed her humor because the boy actually glared down at her with his arms unceremoniously crossed over his chest.

"Oi. Don't be acting like it's funny or something, cat. I just don't like them, is all. They can go pretty much anywhere and I can't punch them in the face so how would I get them to leave?" He received another simple 'meow' to his rationale, prompting him to walk away while muttering under his breath about judgmental felines. He wasn't wrong though. Yoruichi could, in fact, sense a Whole right on the other side of the wall in the alleyway.

What she couldn't understand was why the soul felt so terrified. Wards had been erected around Urahara Shoten to specifically keep out all forms of spirits, like bug spray repelling insects. Whatever had frightened the deceased human had made it completely ignore the barrier and pass right through in its escape. But…why?

The answer struck the black cat like a speeding truck.

As her hackles rose in response, Yoruichi rushed off deeper into the building while ignoring the blond's cry of confusion. Instead she barreled into Kisuke's room and slashed at his dopey sleeping face with sharpened claws, uttering one word in her deepened, transformed voice as he rolled around in comical pain. "Hollow."

It gave the store owner reason long enough to gather his wits and rise to his feet. Urahara suddenly blinked as his hand was halfway towards grabbing his cane, eyes growing wider and making Yoruichi look at him oddly.

"Did…did Kitty-chan just talk?"

Idiot! Of course Naruto would follow her! With no more reason to hide, Yoruichi continued to speak. "A soul passed through here recently and is still hiding outside, rather terrified. I haven't sensed any dark reiryoku yet but I fear a hollow may be chasing it."

"Kurosaki's slacking…I guess I'll have to take care of it since it's on my property."

"Hey! What the hell's a hollow, why are you talking about ghosts like it's a normal thing, and since when was Kitty-chan a summon? I didn't even know there was a summoning scroll for cats!" Kisuke and Yoruichi shared a glance, both believing they'd have to modify his memory but a sudden wave of horrendous reiatsu washed over them all, making Naruto lick his suddenly dry lips and look down at his stomach. The energy felt nasty like Kyuubi's…but it was lacking something.

"We'll speak later. Stay here." The command was forceful and the duo left before Naruto could even protest, causing him to growl. He hated being kept out of the loop when there was a possibility of him helping out. Something was attacking a…-*gulp*-…ghost? However that worked but he could probably rasengan the assailant into leaving. He had no idea what the candy seller could do with a regular cane but if Yoruichi was really a summon, they would likely be back soon.

"Looks like we're not the only unique ones around here, eh brat?" Jiraiya stepped through the door clad in his pajamas but there was no sign of sleepiness in his eyes. In fact, he looked rather rested. Probably from all that lazing around while acting like he was still 'recovering'.

"Yeah, I guess…but ghosts? This is freakin' weird."

"Ever since we left the Elemental Nations I noticed that the atmosphere is different out here. Our homeland is simply permeated with chakra but this place…it's lacking. Have you ever viewed a spirit with your own two eyes before?" Naruto slowly shook his head in the negative after taking a few moments to think. Even though he held the rational fear of the dead specters, he had never actually gotten a glimpse of one before. But he didn't actually see where the sannin was going with this.

"So, what? You're saying chakra messes with ghosts?"

"It's only a theory. Bear with me because I literally just came up with it on the spot. Quiz time; what is chakra composed of?"

"Physical and spiritual energy." Even he knew that…now. It had been drilled into his head after being placed on Squad Seven, even though it was a basic learned at the academy. So he missed a lot of class or didn't pay rapt attention. Wasn't his fault he found better ways to spend his time.

"Good. And what would ghosts be lacking?"

"…the physical part?"

"Right. I believe the surplus of physical energy in the air fooled our senses into believing nothing was there, even if a spirit was actually right in front of our faces. Like some sort of shield over our wits. Out here, we're lacking the rest of the equation. We could head outside right now and see this supposed ghost because it has spirit energy and we have spirit energy, but they're lacking the latent physical part that we still possess and there's nothing in the atmosphere to balance it out and hide them from view."

"Oh…yeah…makes sense…"

Jiraiya sighed, slapping a palm against his naked forehead at the idiocy of his apprentice. "Just go with it. Like I said, it's a theory so don't blow a gasket trying to fully comprehend it."

"Hey! Wait…but if they're missing the physical part here, shouldn't they be invisible then? Back home they'd be viewable because they have that and so would have the same energies like the people who're still alive." The longer-haired ninja across from him regarded Naruto silently before releasing a quick chuckle and leaning against the wall.

"Huh. Good catch. Seems you actually have a brain hidden under that dandelion you call hair. Anyways, I don't really know and trying to figure it out will take too long." The boy ground his teeth together at yet another jab at his intelligence when the air itself became filled with a horrible screech that caused both men to wince. Something big must have just happened outside and it didn't sound healthy. Both shinobi nodded to each other before rushing out to help. Ghost or not, there had to be something they could do to aid them.

Then the wall exploded at Naruto's side.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"-*sniff*- l-leave me alone…" The voice was small, timid, and squeakily feminine. The ghost that had intruded upon their nightly slumber was actually that of a young girl wearing a torn green dress, a small chain of interlocking links about a foot long in diameter dangling from the middle of her chest. Long black hair was unkempt and spiked around her head from lack of any care and her teary brown eyes were shut in fear as she huddled against the wall in a protective ball.

Yoruichi was in front of the child, doing her best to coax her into speaking as Kisuke stood guard in the off-chance of an attack. Unlike Wholes, or regular ghosts such as the young female, there was also the antithesis of souls known as Hollows; creatures that were once regular, everyday spirits who had sadly given into their extreme emotions or irrational longing. Perhaps a soul had recently died and took to hanging around where his ex-girlfriend lived. She's very sad and continues to mourn but he is ironically happy knowing she still cares even in death. But as time passed and the broken chain of fate on his chest that once connected his soul to his mortal shell slowly corroded, the girl finally moved on and found someone else to live her life with. The deceased ex grows jealous and those feelings continue to fester and soon enough the negative emotions become overwhelming and the chain actually rips itself apart in what is known as encroachment until nothing is left. A perfectly circular hole is torn into the spiritual body and the entity transforms into something new; a Hollow. Either this Hollow near their home was once emotionally attached to this young spirit or had simply decided she was an easy meal.

Just like people, all Hollows are unique and yet still maintain one basic and universal need; to feed. The gap in their bodies represented the piece of their soul that they lost and in turn ate other souls, good or bad, in an effort to try and end the gnawing hunger and fill that spot. Sadly it would never disappear. All hollows were varied, from intellectual to beastly, small to big, and none were discriminate. Yes they would go after their loved ones first but if a person gave off even a hint of spiritual energy then they were possible targets.

While the store owner knew he could handle anything that came their way, he was still antsy. It was too quiet and the hollow had fled back into its own dimension of Hueco Mundo for the time being. With no way to sense its reiryoku or latent energy the beast could skip boundaries and appear before they even knew it.

"We can help you pass on, little one. You'll be sent to a place where you won't have to worry about being afraid anymore. A place of peace and happiness." Yoruichi hated herself at that moment. Even years after she left the Soul Society the woman/cat still slipped into the cheery 'lie through your teeth to make the soul want to leave' that all shinigami were taught to do. After all, how else could you persuade a Whole to leave without bending the truth, especially when the afterlife wasn't exactly all that cracked up to be. At least for those who weren't soul reapers.

"B-but, the monster!"

"It won't follow you there. And if it did, it would be instantly killed by the protectors that live there. Mean spirits like the one that scared you aren't welcome there. You'll be perfectly safe, sweetie." Oh god, she wanted retch but the smile she was giving wouldn't leave her furry face. Never mind that the girl didn't seem fazed that an animal was speaking perfectly understandable words and sentences to her.

"R…really?"

"Indeed. See that silly looking man over there? If you really want to go he will press his cane against your forehead and that's that. No pain, no fear…nothing bad." The spirit regarded her quietly with the occasional sniffle before nodding weakly, getting Yoruichi to call Kisuke over to perform the konso. Placing the curved edge of his walking stick against her skin a small glow emanated between flesh and wood before he finally pulled back. A blue square appeared to mark the ritual shown on her skin as the soul burial completed itself and a large white circle overtook her petite form. As her body began to lose consistency and disintegrate the girl was able to stutter out a quick goodbye before being completely overtaken and fading from view after folding in upon itself. All that remained was a small, black swallowtail butterfly that quietly fluttered up into the starry sky.

"Thank god souls lose almost all of their memories after passing on because I would hate to think about such a fragile young girl hating me because I lied to her…even if she didn't know exactly who I was."

"Indeed, but it's our job…well, former job." A sudden gust of wind caused Kisuke to shiver as his sleeping robe fanned out from his body and exposed the man to the nightly chill. "I don't like this…there's no way the Hollow gave up already. Can't it just pop in so I can split its skull and then go back to sleep?"

"Quit whining. It's not like you need the rest you lazy ass."

"Such harsh words…" The man unconsciously placed a hand on his head to readjust the hat he wasn't wearing before turning on his heel and drawing the top of his cane from its resting place in an impressive display of speed. The thin sword hidden within the wooden sheath was out in a flash, blocking the unannounced attack with a loud clang. "…but at least our uninvited guest finally reared its ugly mug."

The monster was twice as tall as Kisuke, panning out around twelve feet in height and half that size in length. It was shaped like a praying mantis covered in bony, white armor with a large pair of sickening scythe arms and a mask with large, sharp pincers. A shrieking click escaped from the Hollow's masked jaw before it pushed against the blade-lock with murderous intent. "**Give me your souls!**"

"Rather pushy, aren't we? After all, the two of us just met and I barely know you. Besides, that cute little girl is already out of your reach."

"Kisuke just purify the damn thing so we can head back inside!"

The scruffy adult peeked down at the cat with pouting lips, giving off a fake aura of sadness that did nothing more than cause Yoruichi to raise a feline eyebrow. "You…you just want to go back and cuddle with Naruto!"

"Of course. The boy is rather comfy and just gives off this _divine_ body heat. I figure we could at least hold off the explanations or memory replacement until the morning." As crocodile tears pooled in Urahara's eyes the former shinigami felt another push against his sword but there was truly nothing to worry about. His opponent was only a low level Hollow with basic intelligence and would hardly put up a fight. All he had to do was release just enough of his own reiatsu and the creature would fold in on itself, either unconscious or dead. Easy as pie.

The Hollow had other plans.

It roared and slashed at his head with its free arm, intent on decapitating the fool and gobbling up both his remaining soul and that of the cat. The bladed appendage sliced harmlessly over the sandy blond's face as he bent backwards, knocking the other arm away with a flick of his wrist. A hiss of steam escaped from the dark soul as it jumped back with a flutter of its wings before rocketing into the sky. True to its mantis-like nature, the Hollow's body quickly blended in with its surroundings, the white bone somehow shifting black to mix with the darkened sky.

"Looks like we know what its power is now…"

"Praying mantises **are** ambush insects, you know."

"Oh I know-" Kisuke spun with a flourish of his blade above his skull, a smirk on his face as the metal met resistance for nary a second before the struggle yielded and the edge passed right on through. Darkened blood sprayed against the wall in great spurts as the slowly approaching Hollow flickered back into view minus an arm. Even with its pained screams the swordsman couldn't help but make light of the situation. "-but do you really believe I would be taken down so easily? Tsk…I thought I would at least cut it in half or hit the mask. I guess it _has_ been some time since I was tasked with killing a Hollow…is it considered torture if I take the time to mess with it a bit?"

"**I WILL KILL YOU!**" Even with heavy blood loss, the negative soul had enough energy to rip open a portal back to Hueco Mundo and speed on through. "**I'LL BE BACK, SHINIGAMI! YOU'LL ALL PAY!**" The store owner merely flapped his hand like a moving mouth. It was the loudest that always had the weakest strength. This wasn't his job anymore though…he was just a humble candy shop connoisseur that dabbled in the paranormal. There was someone else who was this town's protector instead. He scratched at his chin but yelped suddenly when a small yet pointy set of claws dug into the meat of his calf.

"Why?" he whispered, kneeling down to place his hands around the minor wound. His answer was a hard slap across the face by a furry black tail, knocking his head to the side.

"Because you should have finished it here and now, you fool! It may completely disregard us now that it knows we're a threat and seek out someone else with spiritual energy!" The creature was out there and it had lost out on a meal. It was now injured to boot. And it _really_ didn't help matters that Kisuke had recovered and was acting so nonchalant about the whole ordeal.

"Ow…relax, Yoruichi. Do you really think I'm that big of an idiot?...don't answer that. It was rhetorical. Anyways, you know why I really let it go." he added, looking at her with a lack of energy. The animal bowed its head slightly with a heavy sigh.

"Yes…"

"I don't like it either, but he needs the experience and plenty of it. You know they won't sit around on their butts for too much longer and we all need to be prepared. I, for one, have only a small idea on how it will be done and that's why I let Kurosaki take on as many hollows as he can."

Yoruichi hissed slightly but agreed nonetheless. Soul Society had been much too quiet as of late. The town's temporary shinigami, Kuchiki Rukia, had transferred nearly all of her spiritual power to Kurosaki Ichigo, a high-schooler with an abnormal amount of spirit energy housed within his own body and soul. It had happened during an altercation between a Hollow and the teen's family where Rukia was injured and had meant to give Ichigo only a small amount of her power to combat the threat. He instead had absorbed nearly all of it, making her into a regular soul with spiritual capabilities while the boy himself became a substitute shinigami in her place.

While the transference of reiryoku from a soul reaper to a human was not a major crime, it was still against Soul Society law and was only initiated under extreme circumstances. Rukia's time frame involved only a month of protecting both the living and the dead in Karakura Town before it was time for her to return to the Seireitei and report her progress. It was definitely past the thirty day mark since she first arrived and sooner or later (they were banking on sooner) a team would be dispatched to either recover the petite ravenette or discern her fate.

She couldn't even return to explain the situation herself since she was stuck in a gigai, or fake body used by shinigami, and could not summon enough reiatsu to form a senkaimon gate back to the afterlife. In fact, her spiritual pressure (reiatsu, or the force given off when they release their power) and spiritual power (reiryoku, or the amount of spirit energy they possess) was only great enough to allow her to interact with ghosts or use very weak kido spells that were taught to the shinigami. Nothing more.

Kisuke had the feeling that someone was behind the scenes, pulling the strings and trying to cause this minor crime to blossom into something greater. No, it was more than just a feeling…he had prior experience. After all, it was the reason he had been forced into becoming a fugitive and traitor of the Soul Society anyways. This was what inevitably drew him back to the orange-haired Ichigo since Urahara knew the teen wouldn't let her go without a fight.

Things had come full circle.

With a quick hop Yoruichi had alighted upon her friend's shoulder and received a quick scratch under the chin before the two vanished from sight. An ungodly wail had just split the skies, wavering in otherworldly tones that signified the return of their guest from its small recovery period. The duo sensed its Hollowfied reiryoku a second before the front of Urahara Shoten exploded in a shower of plaster and wood. Great. Now they had to fix that. No wait…

_Tessai_ had to fix that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was like a heavy duty explosive tag went off at his feet.

Even as his body was peppered with shrapnel, Naruto rolled with the shockwave after feeling something push him out of the way though he landed awkwardly on his shoulder. He could feel the bones wrench but the blond still tumbled to his feet anyways, slamming into the wall across the street. The gasp tore from his throat along with some flecks of blood, dribbling down his chin and onto his shirt. The jinchuriki thought it was over and that he could stand and look for Jiraiya, after all he would heal from this damage, but sadly a second later he felt something sharp spear him right through the stomach and pin him to the wall.

"**FOOD!**"

Large teeth tore into his chest, ripping away wet flesh and muscle with a ragged jerk. Damn it hurt…worse than a chidori through the lung. At least the lightning numbed the pain compared to the ache that he felt with every spurt of red blood that escaped the wound. Before his vision began to blur Naruto was able to make out his attacker and nearly chuckle in disbelief…really? His death was because of some large ass bug? The kunai he was able to retrieve from his pouch glanced off its protective shell as the teen stabbed downward, missing the usual strength of his normal attacks.

Then he felt the tremble within his chest as though something was wrong with his chakra. It felt like a portion of it was being siphoning away. And it felt really, really weird. As though a part of the ninja had just been stolen (not counting the missing skin) and he was no longer whole but he couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what was suddenly absent. An unmistakable cold was slowly creeping through his limbs and the Kyuubi's chakra was sluggishly coursing through his body. Why wasn't it fixing this?

'_Oi…heal me, dammit…_'

No answer. Not that he expected one without diving into his mindscape and berating the fox. Usually the biju's response would be to just pump more youki through his body since they were tied together by the soul and if Naruto died, the fox died for good instead of simply reforming years later. But there wasn't a surge of energy or anything remotely close to it. No burning, no charge, no cracking of skin and bone stitching back together.

'_Hey…_'

Nothing.

'_I'm dying here!_'

Still nothing.

'_**You're**__ dying too…you fucking idiot!_'

The jibe did nothing.

'_Dammit…Ero-sennin…kill this thing…I'm…bl…blacking out…_'

Where the hell was the pervert? God, he better not have been knocked unconscious or even killed by the blast. No way in hell that the Gallant Toad Sage yadda yadda etc. died from something that simple…but if he did then the jinchuriki was never going to let him live (death?) it down in the afterlife. Seemingly since it felt like he'd be there soon.

Deep inside the ninja's stomach and psyche, one large mass of concentrated chakra in the shape of a kitsune continued roaring in anger and fear as it forced its energy into its host. That creature had done what the Kyuubi thought was impossible: it had torn away a piece of the blond bastard's actual soul with its teeth. What in heaven's name was that thing? For the second time in its container's life, the nine-tailed biju couldn't keep up with the demand for its youki (the first time being when Kabuto had cut his heart's chakra lines). All of it had been rushing towards the 'missing' section of the boy's spirit and spiritual energy instead of rushing to seal the hole in his chest. Plus, since all his energy consisted of yang chakra it barely did anything to fix the missing yin chakra!

The fox howled again in rage, fear, and hatred at its weakness in such a precarious predicament. Hatred at its container for being caught off guard and injured in such a simple way. Hatred at that…thing that had speared the Uzumaki like a fish and decided to take a bite! The dank, murky lights that illuminated its unwilling home were blinking out one by one, causing the darkness to creep closer and closer with every second.

Kyuubi was going to die. The biju couldn't believe it. It was truly going to die, forced to join its missing chakra that was still entrapped within the shinigami while the fool it was stuck inside went on to heaven. Or hell. Or maybe even cease to exist or become reincarnated right off the bat. The fox didn't know and didn't care. Its mind was too focused on the fact IT WAS GOING TO PERISH!

It released one final scream enhanced with innate rage and bloodlust before the last light winked off and its noises finally petered off, ending with a half-hearted whimper. So this was how the greatest and mightiest of the biju went out. Like the very weaklings it despised. Silence was all that remained of the once vast and murky mindscape.

The praying mantis Hollow was quite pleased with itself. Though it had lost an arm to a bastard shinigami, it had found a much, much sweeter prize. This human had been the one the Hollow had originally sensed and was drawn to and his soul was just so tender! Filled with such an amazing amount of spirit energy that caused the negative soul to shiver in delight and that was only from one bite! Not only that but there had been something more hidden deep within it, giving the taste a somewhat burning feeling down the Hollow's throat.

Its neck reared back, intent on delivering yet another bite into the bloody meat of the boy's chest and neck when it suddenly twitched and went still before slowly dissipating into black mist. Naruto slumped to the ground, leaving behind a crimson trail against the wall before being gently grabbed by a pair of dark-skinned arms. The woman they were attached to flicked a long strand of silky violet hair out of her golden eyes not even caring that, for whatever reason, she was unabashedly nude and exposing herself to the nearly unconscious teenage male.

"This isn't good, Kisuke. He's losing a lot of blood and the bite is deep. The hollow zeroed in on him as soon as it came back from hiding." Said man nodded, cleaning his sword with a quick flick of his wrist that sent the droplets of blood and gore spilling to the dirt. That was one of the many things he hated about Hollows…they became completely indiscernible to anyone's senses when they returned to the Hollow's home dimension and it was always a pain when they did so. And now…Naruto was in trouble.

"We'll heal him. Get him inside, Yoruichi." The naked beauty nodded and took him into her arms but as she lifted the limp body something unexpected happened. A second Naruto dropped from the one held against her breasts and hit the ground, a long chain of interlocking steel links attached between the two blond's chests. It was the same as the broken one the young female spirit had, but still fully intact. Not only that, the metal piece from the first Naruto was glowing bright red and hissing slightly, as though it had been heated to a high degree. "I don't know what that means and I have no idea if that's a good sign but he's still alive barely! Get going, I'll find Jiraiya!" The former feline nodded and kneeled down to gather the second ninja before throwing him over her shoulder and rushing back into the store. "Kurosaki really is slacking..." Kisuke himself swiftly sheathed his blade and pinpointed the source of Jiraiya's weakened signature, throwing aside a large chunk of wall that had been shielding the man from view.

The toad sage was breathing and bloody with his hair somehow twice as long and spiking out at an increased rate. It swirled around and covered the sannin like a full-body cloak but retracted back to normal as he sighed, releasing the Needle Jizō technique that had shielded him from the brunt of the attack after he threw Naruto out of the way. Despite the injuries he was still doing better than his apprentice. A choking cough escaped from the man's lips but he still managed to glare at his friend even with the film of red coating one of his eyes. "What…the hell exploded? You stockpiling bombs…in there?" Oh, Jiraiya was pissed despite his joke. He was still healing the last remnants from getting manhandled by a Kyuubified Naruto and now this shit had to happen? "Where's Naruto? Is…he okay?"

"He's injured pretty bad but it's not from the explosion and I need to assess the damage. Come on; let's get you some first aid." Without waiting for a reply, the shop owner helped Jiraiya to his feet despite his painful protests and helped him hobble into the back of the building. At least this area and his laboratory were still intact. The older shinobi would live after getting quickly checked over by Urahara and the now active Tessai. They cleaned him up and reset his arm, immobilizing it while giving him some odd medicine that actually took away all his pain within the span of a few minutes. It seemed his protective hair had stabbed and blocked much of the debris but his body was still thrown around like a rag doll. The disheartening news, however, was when they checked up on Naruto's status.

Jiraiya was in shock. He was so astonished his mind didn't even register that Yoruichi was not only in the room but completely starkers for all to see. His attention was on the two Naruto's laying on the ground within the front room that inevitably led into his lab. He didn't understand what it was and why it was happening, but the big gaping hole next to the metal fastened to his torso made him nearly rush forward to see why the fox wasn't fixing him. Only the staying hand of his friend kept him in his spot…for now.

"How's he doing, Tessai?" The large man just shook his head, his hands locked together in a weird seal not unlike those used in ninja techniques and emitting a faint light as he sat in between the two Uzumakis.

"Not well at all. As you can see his soul has been ejected from his body but the Chain of Fate is still attached…he's alive and yet dead. What disturbs me is the fact that there is…a small void in his soul. The Hollow appears to have bitten off a piece of it…I was not aware they could do that instead of eating their victim's souls whole."

"W-what? Dead? He's not dead…he's right there…and there's a shadow clone next to him. If he was dead then the clone would disappear!"

"The one on the left is his real body, Jiraiya. The one on the right is his soul."

"Yoruichi?" It was then he finally noticed the attractive woman, a hand placed on each of the boy's ankles as though she were holding them down in case he began to thrash about. He saw side boob and some of her darker-shaded nipple but he miraculously shook the sight away, more worried and confused by what was going on with his student. "Alright, spill. Now. What the hell is going on?" Some killer intent leaked into his last sentence but Kisuke and the others merely shrugged it off.

"Perhaps we should work on stabilizing young Naruto before anything else?"

"Heal him and then I want a goddamn explanation!" Grey eyes remained locked on the blond duo as he nodded slowly, tapping his cane once on the ground.

"Jinta! Go and fetch me my scanner! Ururu, please come in here!" Two squeaky replies met their ears as the two children rushed inside, having been hovering out in the hallway during the small altercation. As the redhead ran through the door at the opposite end of the room, the young girl stopped in front of her boss and looked at him with nervous anticipation. The man knelt down and placed a comforting hand on her head before speaking again. "Could you please take Jiraiya to the living room? Maybe make some tea or something." She fidgeted with the hem of her pajama top before nodding and tugging on the sannin's un-abused arm to follow her. As soon as they were out of sight (Jiraiya throwing a glare over his shoulder that promised pain) the older blond sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his eyes.

"H-here." A small device was thrust into Urahara's hands and the man smiled gravely, ushering the redhead out the door to go and stay with Ururu. As the door slid shut he clicked one of the buttons on the square device and felt it hum beneath his fingertips.

"Alright." the former shinigami said slowly, tossing it towards his feminine companion. "Let's get started."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jiraiya was going spare over the situation. His godson had been in dire straits for the last half hour and all he could do was wait. Naruto was dead. Or was he? That's what hurt his head…they said he was and yet also wasn't. _What the hell did that mean? _And then there was Kisuke and his lot, supposedly more than just normal humans. But…it was something that apparently involved ghosts and spirits. It actually angered Jiraiya that the great spymaster was unable to even notice that something was amiss with his long-distance friend and those he lived with. That was due to negligence on his part somewhat though…that's what he got for believing that there actually couldn't be others out there who would be considered 'abnormal'.

Or were Kisuke and the others just that good at blending in with the masses?

"U-um…your tea…" Ururu nearly fell over locked in fear as Jiraiya directed his full attention on the poor girl and her redheaded companion. The glare he gave them could have stopped someone's heart and even caused Jinta to think twice about opening his mouth. Realization flashed in the older man's eyes as he took in what he was subconsciously doing and looked away, apologizing to the two for his action. The stress was getting to him and he was leaking KI, and when the girl spoke he directed it all on her. Jiraiya was happy she understood after explaining his anger although the boy was still a bit put off by his former actions.

The three lapsed back into silence, occasionally broken by the sipping of their beverages, even as the toad sage's thoughts drifted back towards worrisome. The small ravenette began to fidget when she saw his eyes narrow dangerously but thankfully it disappeared as he began to look over his wounds. Jiraiya was already in the middle of healing…now he had this to deal with. Senjutsu would have kept damage to a minimum but it would have taken too long to set everything up. Jinta mentioned something about the wards around the house being tampered with because of Naruto's demon chakra interfering with the barrier too...they were going to put up better ones to compensate for the boy's excess energy.

He wasn't sure how much time passed as he sat there and fretted, but he could see through the shades that the barest glimmer of the sun was peaking over the cloudy horizon. His two companions had left some time ago to follow after Tessai who asked them to help aid him with something Jiraiya hadn't cared to pay attention to. He did, however, hear the occasional shout and pounding noise filter in from the front of the store.

To pass the time he even carefully summoned the toad scroll and took to staring at the signatures written upon the parchment in blood. His own name and fingerprints left to mark the paper were still bright red, almost as if he had just placed them there mere moments before. His former apprentice Minato's was pitch black to sadly signify his deceased state. It looked more like it had been written with pen and brush. Then there was Naruto's…

It just added to his confusion.

The fingerprints and family name were still colored with the vibrant tone but the boy's own personal name was darkened. What a strange phenomenon. After rolling it back up and tying it shut he dispelled the large scroll with a wince. Not a moment too soon it seemed, as Urahara took that second to walk in with a tired look in his eyes and motioned for the sannin to follow. Neither spoke until Jiraiya was standing back in the room, looking down at the bandaged and still form of his godson. Only _one_ of them, thankfully. The second copy and the chain that linked them together were missing to his delight.

"It was a bit tough," Kisuke said with a bit of a sigh that morphed halfway into a yawn. "-but we were able to bring him back. Despite the fact the Hollow bit a good chunk out of his body, that crazy healing of his finally kicked in at the last moment and allowed us to spend more time on getting his soul back in his body."

"So…he's okay now?"

"Yes…and no. He might be fine physically but his soul is wounded. That bite did more than just tear skin. As I just mentioned that creature that attacked us is called a Hollow. It's a…bad ghost that seeks out anyone with a large amount of spiritual energy and attacks them to consume their soul. When the monster bit him it seems the teeth actually tore out a small bit of his spirit which will thankfully regenerate over time. The problem is, unless we can stabilize that space where nothing resides for the time being, I believe that the empty section will begin to go out of control and injure Naruto. It will try to refill itself using the rest of the soul but since there will still be a missing piece it will tear at itself. I've never actually seen a case like this before, as usually the Hollow consumes its entire target. I'm basing this on conjecture and prior data but I'm eighty-seven percent sure he will destroy himself from the inside out if we do not fill that gap."

Jiraiya cradled his injured arm, actually feeling as useless as the day that Orochimaru showed his true colors and turned traitor against Konoha. He simply couldn't do a damn thing about the situation no matter how much he tried or wanted to. A soft growl escaped his lips as he tore his eyes away from the sickly boy and turned towards the other man standing nearby. "So how are _you_ going to fix this?" Kisuke didn't miss the emphasis on the word 'you'. This was his problem and he needed to give the solution very quickly, and they both knew it.

"We'll have to alter his soul to allow it to strengthen and 'seal the leak' so to say. The adjustment will fix him right up but I warn you, it's going to be quite the change. One that could thoroughly mess with his way of life if left to its own devices. He'll…have to become one of us. A shinigami."

Oh.

Okay.

That made sense. Jiraiya used his pinky to clear out his ear and leaned forward while cupping the cartilage to hear better. When the man repeated it, the ninja nodded once and then burst into disbelieving laughter. What kinda bullshit was he spouting off? Out of all the things the shop owner had said that night, this was the most farfetched. Ghosts were real? Sure it was possible. An evil spirit tried to eat his apprentice because he had a lot of spirit energy (which made some sense because his chakra was already sky high)? The evidence had been before his eyes and it caused the blond to die or some other crazy shit.

But turning Naruto into a shinigami?

A god of death?

That big ass deity that was currently still digesting the souls of all four of the former Hokages?

The white-haired elder was calling shenanigans.

The laughter grew forced and Jiraiya's face fell until it was a calm mask of indifference. "Don't fuck with me on this one, Kisuke. It's bad enough Naruto is in his current situation…but this is just too much."

"You have the ability to call forth giant toads and shoot balls of fire from your mouth. Isn't it possible that I'm still telling the truth?" Urahara groaned as he rubbed a hand over his face. Jiraiya's eyes were glued to his apprentice, watching as the teenager's chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. His face was ashen and caused the markings on his cheeks to stand out more than normal. Why was it always Naruto? Couldn't the boy's luck throw him a bone once in a while? He needed it dearly.

"There's only one shinigami and the creature doesn't look remotely human. It's a great ugly bastard that looks like a demon and any soul that is forced into a deal is taken when they die, making them live in its stomach for an eternity of conflict against any others that have the bad luck to be there."

'_Sounds like something twisted Mayuri may have cooked up in his spare time._'

"I haven't seen or met it personally but there's been lots of stories…"

The blond-haired man tapped his cane twice before snapping his fingers in a flash of insight. Ichigo wasn't around currently but there was something else he could do to help his cause. "Perhaps you need some personal insight? Stand still please!" The wooden staff was lifted up until it hovered a few centimeters from the sage's forehead and gently touched against his skin. The rubber stopper paused for a moment before Kisuke gave it a sharp push. Jiraiya expected his head to snap back before he yelled at his buddy for doing such an idiotic action…but when he felt the oddest sensation of smoothly falling backwards accompanied by a soft flash of blue he knew that something was up.

He yelled out as he hit the ground and tweaked his injury, hearing a second 'thump' mirror his own descent. Plus his lungs were fighting to drawn breath and expand, as though it were taking twice as much effort to simply move the muscles. He did feel a weight attached to his chest and as his hand gripped at the cold metal he tugged, feeling both skin and cloth clench in response. He had one of those chain things stuck to him just like Naruto had. But…that meant…oh, wow. The other end was attached to a copy of himself splayed across the ground with his eyes rolled up into the back of his head.

"To return to normal just push against your body and will yourself to merge. The rest will happen on its own." With a huff at the shop-keep's advice, Jiraiya dragged himself to his feet and trudged over to his unmoving form. Placing a hand against his chest, the spirit focused on falling back into his own flesh and blood. There was a small tug around his navel that quickly turned into a full feeling of vertigo as Kisuke watched him become intangible to the naked eye and fuse with his living body.

"Don't do that again!" the man shouted as he shot up into a sitting position, greedily gulping down as much air as he could.

"You might have a lot of reiryoku but you always mix it up to form your chakra. If you were used to using spirit energy by itself, you wouldn't be having that problem." Jiraiya's wheezing continued to lower in volume as the door once again slid open and revealed Yoruichi holding an unsheathed sword in her hands. Not only that but she had dressed herself in a pair of dark blue pajamas that were clearly too small for a woman of her curvy stature.

"We need to act soon Kisuke." she stated in a somewhat tired voice. The blade in her hands jingled slightly as she closed the paper-covered portal and walked inside. It was rather plain, sporting an un-descriptive oval guard and black cloth handle. With a wave of her hand the woman threw her long hair back over her shoulder and walked towards the sleeping boy. Placing a hand on his sweaty brow she frowned and looked over the male duo. "He's sporting a minor fever."

"Alright…but I really have to ask. What's up with the outfit?" Despite the tense situation going on before them, the busty woman couldn't help but smirk and puff out her barely restrained chest in self-satisfaction. The mere action caused her bust to jiggle in place.

"It's blondie's set. He took to wearing a shirt and boxers to bed because he outgrew the pj's he brought with him. I figured I should put something on, so why not something Naruto wouldn't exactly miss?" Jiraiya's eyes were pinned to the dark-skinned woman's cleavage, willing the lone button in the way to finally buckle under the pressure and reveal the gloriously massive mounds hidden within.

"Not…that I don't approve of the sight but I really have to ask; why are you holding a katana?" Kisuke instead stepped forward (making sure to take a look down her shirt) and gently took the weapon from her hand. Clearing his throat while looking away from the clearly un-modest woman, the man took to rapping a knuckle against the metal after hooking his cane into the nook of his elbow.

"This is an asauchi, an unnamed zanpakuto given to lower-class shinigami. Long story short, all shinigami have them and they are used to combat Hollows. Anyways, there is a method to help Naruto that I had forgotten about until quite recently. I would use my own zanpakuto-" at this he tilted his head towards the dangling walking stick. "-but due to Uzumaki-san's high amount of reiryoku there is the chance he could steal much of my own power instinctively. So! Yoruichi has kindly been filling this with spirit energy and right now I'm adding some of my own. When used, this will keep young Uzumaki-san stable until he has been healed and allow us to work properly."

"You're not telling me how this is going to work."

"Well…all we do is take the pointy tip here and pierce the boy's heart-"

"No! Are you crazy?"

Yoruichi simply snorted. "Yes."

"Listen please. The energy needs to enter him through there to temporarily change him into a shinigami. By the time he heals we'll be able to take greater action. After all we don't know if this will actually fix the problem or be a more fleeting solution." The ninja could only sigh again and run a hand through his hair.

"There's really no other way?"

"There is but he'd have to be coherent and able to move under his own will. We don't know how long he'll be out either." This was it then. Nothing else to do but take the plunge...literally.

"Do it. But if he dies for real this time then you _really_ don't want to know what I'll do to you."

"Don't worry. I understand." The asauchi began glowing with a bluish overtone before dimming enough to not be considered blinding. Any former trace of emotion on Kisuke's face gave way to pure concentration as he placed the hovering point over the ninja's chest and took a breath. "Embrace it, Uzumaki-san." One jab later and the katana had entered the blond's chest. Instead of a spurt of red body fluid and a cry of pain as the boy was hit by the deathblow, the area around them seemed to explode with the force of a windstorm.

Then the reiatsu flooded the room with unwavering intent, like the ocean itself had dropped on their heads.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

How weird was this shit? He was in some sort of lucid…dream, he guessed. Naruto could hear all that they were saying and yet he wasn't even there personally. He was in his mindscape. At least he figured he was, as it was the sewer he had grown used to witnessing on the odd occasion whenever he actually fell into his psyche. It was much darker than normal though and that made the young ninja cautious.

"Hello? Stupid fox? You there?"

The wind came rushing towards him at an astounding pace, blowing the boy clear off his feet and tumbling through the shin-high murky water that flooded the place. The blond decided to take that as a yes.

"_I'm basing this on conjecture and prior data but I'm eighty-seven percent sure he will destroy himself from the inside out if we do not fill that gap._"

Gap? That was Hat and Clogs voice…part of his soul was missing? How the hell was that possible? Hollow? This was why his fear of ghosts was well founded; there were bastards like that praying mantis thing that tried to kill people.

"_He'll…have to become one of us. A shinigami_." Whaaaaaaat? You mean there was more than one? As Naruto stood and shook the water from his body he realized that his boarders really were hiding more than he and Jiraiya originally thought. The Kyuubi sure did quiet down too…maybe a part of its own soul was taken as well since both of theirs were tied together by the seal. Dumb thing probably tired itself out after that last tantrum.

"_We need to act soon, Kisuke._" Hey, that was a woman's voice. Definitely not Ururu…so who? He continued to listen in as the voices from outside echoed around in his mind. So this was that Yoruichi lady that the cat summon was named after huh?...he wondered if she was pretty. He began to wander around while grumbling on about how she was apparently stretching out his pajamas. It didn't matter that they didn't really fit anymore…they were still his!

"_Embrace it, Uzumaki-san_." Embrace what, exactly? That sword that was about to be sticking out of his torso? Like hell he would! As if waiting for the moment the quiet biju suddenly roared out again, shaking the walls and pipes that littered the area. The force was so great the jinchuriki found himself once again sailing through the air but this time he stuck the landing, sliding across the water's surface thanks to a favored skill of using chakra to stay afloat. Was it scared or something? He was too but there was literally nothing either of them could do about it at that time.

**SHLICK**

There was no pain as the katana finally cut through flesh and muscle. That is to say, it wasn't exactly pleasant but it could have been much worse. A foreign energy not unlike chakra instantly coursed through his body and mindscape like a tidal wave, seeping into every nook and cranny it could find. The effect was instantaneous as he realized there was nothing to actually fight and his will allowed the changes to take place.

It started small but instantly bloomed into something much, much bigger as the dank sewer of his mind rippled and shattered like cheap glass, revealing underneath something one would normally see at a noble's place. Great halls and grand doorways, rich tapestries hanging from balconies and other things of that nature as far as the eye could see as he stood in what looked to be a ballroom or grand foyer. This was hidden away the whole time…was this what his inner world should have looked like originally? But why was it so…decrepit looking despite the awe-inspiring design? Everything looked to be ratty or old, rusted to a dull and flaky amber and brown color scheme. In Naruto's opinion it looked only slightly better than the damn sewer.

Hinges creaked in protest as one of the far doors opened by itself, seemingly beckoning the blond to walk through and discover what was inside. Though wary as it could have been a trick by the fox, he moved forward cautiously anyways. "…hello?"

There was no answer, only the squeak of his sandals on the dusty floor.

He continued down the hallway while occasionally looking out one of the thin, stony windows. Outside was dark and cloudy, mirroring the gloomy atmosphere that permeated the stone castle. Even running his hand over the cool surface of the rock wall did nothing to wipe away the grime and dust. He needed to go and see one of those psychologists or something if this was how badly his consciousness was in disrepair.

His steps seemed to grow louder as he neared the far end of the corridor and once through the doorway, Naruto's eyes widened in wonder. It was some sort of throne room like one would hear about in fairy tales involving knights with a wide, sweeping space between where the lone chair was seated and the large doors. Said chair was a simple yet still ornamental wooden throne with a high back and thick armrests. Resting upon it was a lone suit of armor that had obviously seen better days as the wear and tear clearly showed. The ninja was drawn to it though, and took to cautiously inching closer lest this was some sort of trick by the resident demon.

"_I can assure you this is no jest. Though if your simplistic mind cannot see that then I truly rue the actions that finally brought myself into your life._"

…did the armor just talk?

As if hearing his thoughts, the helmet creaked and turned until its visor was aimed right towards the male. "_Yes, I do have the capacity for speech." _it uttered in a gruff, manly bass_. "I have been with you since the day you were conceived and know you better than anyone else, Uzumaki Naruto._" At this point the body armor had pulled itself to its steel-wrought feet and slowly began to stalk towards Naruto. "_As for that immense waste of space and energy, the Kyuubi no Kitsune has been banished to the lowest dungeon I could muster. I will tell you this only once. Use its power ever again and __**I will not hesitate to destroy both you and the bond we share.**_"

A gauntlet-clad arm clanked loudly as the fist was raised in front of its face and Naruto was inexplicably forced to the floor unceremoniously. It felt as if gravity had increased tenfold and was crushing every possible inch of his body. The air was forced from his lungs and yet he began to hyperventilate, foamy spittle leaking past his lips as his eyes began to roll into the back of his head. And then it let up as speedily as it had appeared, setting Naruto to gasp and loosen up against the cold stones in relief. That had been worse than any of the KI he had felt over his short shinobi career (such as from Zabuza or Orochimaru or even Jiraiya when he was dead serious) but unlike the emotional intent he had grown somewhat used to, this one had _physically_ assaulted him while making him feel like he wanted to end it all just to escape the sentiment.

"…the…h-hell?"

The animated 'statue' actually placed its hands on its hips and shook its head. "_Truly pitiful…I give you an ounce of reiatsu and you contemplate suicide. I simply cannot believe __**I**__ was the spirit that was born to you and am supposed to be the one to bolster your power. I am not even in my preferred form…humanoid shapes take so little spiritual energy in comparison. Rise, Uzumaki Naruto, or I will drag you to your knees!_" And rise he did though it involved much mumbling, swearing, and struggling. Glaring heavily at the heckler, Naruto wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and spoke back.

"How do…I know you aren't actually the fox in disguise? This could be all some trick to lower my guard!" Wrong answer apparently as the suit of armor actually faded from his point of view and senses. Less than a second after the abrupt disappearance, an unyielding vice clamped around Naruto's throat and he was slammed backwards into the wall. The force imbedding the ninja within the stone and formed a vertical crater as granite chips and dust rained down upon the two of them. Though once again in pain, the up close view allowed Naruto to witness the intricacies of the armor that apparently both wanted to protect and kill him.

It looked somewhat like the samurai of Iron Country wore though it was much more diverse than their cookie-cutter productions. The helmet was rounded like those worn by the swordsmen and had two protrusions near the ears that swept back like metal wings. The visor was pitch black and covered the eyes and nose, allowing no one else to see what lied within. The mouth area was armored and the chest piece, gauntlets, boots, pelvis area, and pauldrons were all heavily shielded as though this person was ready for war…maybe even a king. It was hard to tell seeing as the steel that composed its outer shell was in need of major repair. If one could work their way through all the wear and tear, the armor could have possibly been golden in color. Everywhere else was covered in a protective black body suit that looked to be metallic in nature. Lastly there was a long black cape that hung down to its shins, thrown behind its body while originating somewhere underneath the two shoulder joints.

"_Label me that foul beast one more time and I shall follow through on my threat despite the consequences!_" The blond was jerked roughly from the wall and thrown one-handed towards the ground with the same strength that still surprised the jinchuriki. How could a suit of armor possess such power? When the construct attacked, he could hear the echoed thumps that indicated it was somehow empty. Skidding across the floor, the armor teleported in his path and dug a foot into the ground before kicking upwards. The blow caught Naruto in the ribs and spun him into the air before the assailant lashed out and grabbed him about the face, immediately halting his momentum before slamming him backwards into the already battered tiles. "_You are so keen to speak of the stain upon your soul? Then allow me to __**graciously**__ escort you to that blackened core!_"

Once again the odd teleportation technique was used and, unlike what the teenager actually thought, it was not something crazy like the Yondaime's hiraishin move. It was more like a physical shunshin perhaps where the armored 'person' took only a few steps and the immense speed somehow took them both across the room. Then the hallway. Then the stairs. And so on and so forth until it all seemed to become a nauseous blur and as they dove lower and lower.

Naruto found himself kicked through a wooden door with a heavy brass knocker as the handle, idly wondering if this was going to be the norm during the duration of his visit. The armor was really starting to tick him off with all the manhandling and if he could just gain his bearings for a second then the boy could finally start fighting back. Wait, this was his mind though! If this thing was a part of him like it so claimed, then the blond should be able to exert some control over it!

Sticking his hand out Naruto flipped himself into the air and rotated backwards into an upright position. The soles of his feet and the palm of his hand kicked up dust as he finally came to a stop, raring to go for the fight he knew was coming. The armor actually scoffed and walked past him but the blond wouldn't have any of that. Flesh connected with metal as he drove his fist into the chest plate followed by using the momentum to twist and throw out a kick to the head. The helmet snapped back and caused the suit to actually turn around in its spot.

The boy was growling and totally ready to continue the beat down with a gaggle of clones when the armor held out a placating hand and laughed. _Laughed!_ Who the hell laughs when they get a boot to the chin? "_Good! It seems you do have some fight in you! That makes this union slightly more bearable._"

"Okay, enough! Who the hell are you and why do you keep saying things like 'union' or that you were 'born to me', whatever the hell that means?"

"_And why did you not ask me these things sooner?_"

"You started attacking me!"

"_Next time do not tarry and I will not be forced into action. If I had been a true foe you would have already been dead._" Well…that made some sense though he wasn't going to admit it out loud. "_As for who I am…I am a part of you, as I said before. I do not enjoy this though because you are weak. Not physically, and your will is surprisingly strong. But emotionally…perhaps even spiritually...you allow others to walk all over you or take great offense at the simplest of things. You claim to want to help others but in the long run it is for your own personal gain!_"

"That's not true!"

"_Is it?_" The armor began to circle him before nearing another unopened door across from the one they had just entered and placed a hand upon it. "_Then what, pray tell, is your reason for wanting to become the Hokage?_"

"So everyone knows who I am!" he yelled reflexively but as soon as the words were out of his mouth Naruto immediately regretted it. That really was selfish, was it not? But he felt as though he had a legitimate reason as to why. Being ignored and looked down upon for most of your life would do that to a person.

"_Your promise to your teammate about bringing back the traitor? You didn't do that out of the goodness of your heart._"

"Yes I did! I didn't want Sakura-chan to cry anymore and to make her happy!"

"_To make her __**happy**__? You bound yourself to a foolish pledge that will only end in failure! Do you truly believe that the Uchiha will willingly return to the village he has forsaken? That things will return to the droll way they once were? Nonsense!_" The armor spun and jabbed a gloved finger forcefully into his chest. "_You merely did this while hanging onto the miniscule hope that by doing so, the girl will perhaps grow to see you in the same light as the runaway. That by forsaking your own feelings, the act will prove that you truly care for that pink-haired…kunoichi and you will both fall in love, big family, lots of babies, etcetera._"

"Shut. Up."

The armor pointedly ignored him. "_What is her favorite food? Do you even remember what she said the day of first your team meeting? Or is all you remember the fact she worships the missing Uchiha? Truly. Pitiful. What saddens me the most is the fact that it is the one thing I actually agree with the Kyuubi about. Isn't that right, beast?_" It lashed out with the back of its fist, blowing open the last door and allowing the blond to look inside.

There it was. The mightiest of the biju. Despite the fact they were deep 'underground' there was still enough space to allow for the giant fox's immense girth. The cage itself was no longer just a mass of bars with a pool of water for a floor. The liquid had taken to changing the stony dungeon into a dank, damp, and musty fog that looked more appropriate out in the woods. The former pen was now more antiquated in design with thinner bars made of ingrained, reinforced steel and the paper seal that used to hold the malevolent chakra back was now in the shape of a large metal padlock.

The vulpine itself looked as though it was at its breaking point as spittle dripped from its growling maw. Fangs were clenched together so tightly it looked as though the Kyuubi was either in immense pain or ready to go completely feral at a moment's notice. Red, slit eyes were locked onto the armored being and were as constricted as they could be, proving more that the biju was close to snapping. The nine massive tails were moving with a mind of their own, battering against the walls and bars with such force that the reverberation caused Naruto to clutch at his ears as he staggered around from the shockwaves.

How he didn't hear this infernal racket only moments before, the boy chalked it up to some crazy internal soundproofing.

"**HOW DARE YOU! THOUGH THIS IS THAT DISGUSTING MAMMAL'S MIND, IT WAS STILL MY OWN REALM!**"

"_SILENCE, DEMON!_"

"**YOU APPEARED AND REARRANGED EVERYTHING! BIDING MY TIME WAS ALL I COULD DO AND YET YOU BANISH ME TO THE DEEPEST OF DEPTHS? I WILL OBLITERATE YOU BOTH!**" With a thunderous roar that caused Naruto to be blown off of his feet, a surge of red chakra pounded against the cage and forced itself through. Most was absorbed and dispersed by the seal's power but the excess still managed to squeeze through and force itself at the two figures. The jinchuriki was nearly swallowed whole by the tide but once again found himself dragged away by his other half.

He was thrown against the throne room's floor and left to pant at the attack as the armor strolled over to its seat and sat down with a sigh. Fingers rested against a covered cheek as the helmet leaned sideways in a somewhat lax sitting position while regarding the ninja with silence. As Naruto's gasps from the demonic chakra died down, the suit 'tsked' and righted itself.

"_It was pure luck that the damn animal was more focused on me but it helped to reinforce my original point: you are feeble. Frail. Pathetic. Though facing the Kyuubi is still beyond your reach presently, one day you will have to square off against it. Perhaps when that day comes I can lend you my strength without question._"

"And…why would I want that?" Naruto pulled himself into a sitting position, staring at the armor from his spot on the ground. This stupid suit that now lived inside of him was annoying the crap out of him. Attacking him, throwing him around, and belittling him. Seriously…what the hell?

"_Because…as much as I loathe to admit it…I am your zanpakuto._"

"…huh?"

"_Your partner." _it growled in exasperation._ "The spirit that lives within your own spirit. Your weapon that was finally released after a series of recent events that brought about a change. Although my power does not come freely, especially for one such as you. If you can prove you truly are not the failure that society has labeled you as then I believe this situation will not be as dire as I originally thought. If not then you are...how do the uncouth ruffians of this day and age say it? Oh yes…shit out of luck._"

"Do you even have a name or should I call you the asshole suit of armor that lives in my soul?"

"_Quaint._" the armor chuckled. "_But a mouthful. Truly, I will be surprised if you can even hear me utter it._" Naruto just looked at him strangely. He was like ten feet away and they were talking normally. What, was he going to whisper it just to be a dick? "_Listen closely because I am only going to say this once…I am ********. _

That was weird. It was like his hearing suddenly cut out when the name was spoken. Slightly embarrassed, the blond leaned forward and asked to hear it once more. "Uh…sorry, could you repeat that?"

"_It appears that my name cannot reach your ears. That is no big surprise there. Until you can embrace your faults and desist in lying to yourself, my title will never become known to you. Now be gone! I grow tired of having to entertain you!_" With a wave of its hand, Naruto felt a familiar drowsiness he had experienced from the few other times he had ever ventured into his own mind.

"Then I'll just have to learn your name. I don't give a shit how but I swear I'm going to find out and then rub your nose in it, won't I?" With that, his last parting gesture before disappearing from view was to give the armor a one-fingered salute. Then he was gone, leaving the zanpakuto spirit alone within the large room to contemplate on what he had just said.

"_We shall see, Uzumaki. We shall see…_"

A shame the armor felt as though such an action would never actually happen. It wanted to help the boy, as it was ingrained within itself to do so. Though the spirit had slumbered for fifteen years deep within the boy's own soul it was still able to hear, to see, to know all of his memories, experiences, and feelings. It was not lying when it said the blond shinobi was weak. Neglect and different forms of abuse molded the child into one that would hang onto any bit of compassion shown his way. Acting out, fighting, and pranks was how he knew to gain the attention of others, unknowing of the difference between positive and negative interest. Thanks to the few that could be called his 'teachers' and 'family', he had grown but still lingered within his former ways.

Ways that irked the 'weapon' to no end.

Would Naruto finally grow up and give the spirit the incentive to work together? Only time would tell. Truthfully the armor hoped he would. After all, the reason the whole place looked like it did was because of Naruto's conflicted emotions and own self-doubt.

No matter.

If push came to shove, it could always give the blond jinchuriki a few _reasons_ to finally grow a pair and become the man he could eventually become.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_A/N: Holy friggin' crap. I thought I'd never get around to finishing this. It's been open for weeks and I only had time to write bit after bit. School was taking up my time and then work scheduled me for more days…I hate working till close. But anyways…enjoy._

_I decided to try a new way of making Naruto into a soul reaper…in essence, the same way Rukia turned Ichigo into one. Except Kisuke and Yoruichi did it with an alternate method. Mmmmhmmmmm._

_And didn't I tell you? It's a zanpakuto that doesn't involve lightning or wind or dragons or even Kyuubi. El gasp! At first I wanted one like Zangetsu, an experienced and stoic persona that you can't help but want to show respect. But then I wanted a unique one, of course. Naruto's zanpakuto is strong, based a bit off Norse mythology, and strongly believes that Naruto is unworthy to wield itself despite still wanting to help and protect the boy. _

_I'll try to write more seeing as summer is finally here but sadly I have a summer class towards my degree that starts next week. Sigh…_


End file.
